Licensee

Licensee

: "This article is about the common law concept of a licensee; see here for information on licenses"

A licensee is a term used in the law of torts to describe a person who is on the property of another, despite the fact that the property is not open to the general public, because the owner of the property has allowed the licensee to enter. The status of a visitor as a licensee (as opposed to a trespasser or an invitee) defines the legal rights of the visitor if they are injured due to the negligence of the property owner.

Where licensees are present, activities conducted on the land by or at the behest of the owner of the land must be conducted with the care that a prudent person would show. A duty to warn arises if there is a harmful condition on the land that is hidden from the licensee, so long as the landowner knows of this condition. The licensee falls between the anticipated or discovered trespasser and the invitee on the sliding scale of tort liability assessed to landowners. Whereas the ancticipated trespasser needs to be protected from known manmade conditions "capable of causing death or serious injury", the licensee must be warned of all known dangers. However, unlike an invitee, a licensee has no standing to sue for dangerous conditions that "should have been" discovered by the property owner but were not actually known to the owner. A property owner has no duty whatsoever to trespassers.

Historically, emergency workersndash police and firefightersndash have been considered licensees. However, they are barred from recovering from injuries caused by inherent risks of their jobs. Generally such injuries are instead covered by worker's compensation.


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • licensee — li·cens·ee /ˌlīs ən sē/ n: one to whom a license is given a patent licensee; specif: one (as a firefighter in the course of his or her duty) who is on the property of another by authority of law or by the consent or invitation of the possessor… …   Law dictionary

  • licensee — li‧cen‧see [ˌlaɪsnˈsiː] noun [countable] LAW 1. someone who has official permission to do something, especially to sell alcohol: • The full licence enables the licensee to sell liquor for consumption either on or off the premises. 2. an… …   Financial and business terms

  • Licensee — Li cen*see (l[imac] sen*s[=e] ), n. (Law) The person to whom a license is given. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • licensee — 1837, from LICENSE (Cf. license) + EE (Cf. ee) …   Etymology dictionary

  • licensee — ► NOUN ▪ the holder of a licence, especially to sell alcoholic drinks …   English terms dictionary

  • licensee — [lī΄sən sē′] n. a person to whom a license is granted …   English World dictionary

  • Licensee — An individual who is allowed to enter a piece of property by permission of the owner. For the purpose of this definition, there cannot be any kind of reciprocal profit motive between the licensee and the property owner. Someone who is allowed to… …   Investment dictionary

  • licensee — [[t]la͟ɪs(ə)nsi͟ː[/t]] licensees 1) N COUNT A licensee is a person or organization that has been given a licence. [FORMAL] 2) N COUNT A licensee is someone who has been given a licence to sell alcoholic drinks, for example in a pub. [BRIT] …   English dictionary

  • licensee — UK [ˌlaɪs(ə)nˈsiː] / US [ˌlaɪs(ə)nˈsɪ] noun [countable] Word forms licensee : singular licensee plural licensees someone who has a licence to do something, especially to sell alcoholic drinks …   English dictionary

  • licensee — sub·licensee; …   English syllables

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