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Licenses are often long, complicated, and difficult to read. Let's identify a few key terms to be on the lookout for when reading a license agreement.
Google Chrome Terms of Service
And once again, those important terms to remember:
- Product or Service
- Terms
- Term
- Territory
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So you install iTunes or you purchase a WordPress theme or whatever it is,
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and you find yourself in front of a license that you're supposed to agree to.
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Do you ever actually read those or do you just click "Agree"?
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Or maybe you've personally asked a photographer for a license to use one of their photos in you app,
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and they send you a license agreement, but what does it all mean?
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If you ever, ever have any specific questions about a license agreement that you are unsure about,
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definitely consult a lawyer.
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But even though every license is different, we can at least learn some common terminology used in them and what they mean.
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So let's decode a few words.
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First, know that there is no standard way to write a license of any kind.
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Every company has different lawyers that write these sort of licenses for them,
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and every lawyer writes them a little bit differently based on a number of different factors.
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So don't expect to see any sort of EULA written the same way twice.
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Some are going to be unnecessarily complicated and incomprehensible.
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But others, like some of Microsoft's and Google's for example, are written to be pretty human friendly.
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Most licenses will explain themselves a little bit up front.
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They'll go when we say this, we mean this, this, and this, and that's helpful.
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Google even goes out of their way to explain the word "Google".
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Saying ""Google" means Google, Inc., whose principal place of business is at 1600 Amphitheatre parkway" et cetera, et cetera.
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But often a license will feel like it's expecting you to be a lawyer no matter how well it's trying to explain itself.
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So be on the lookout for these important word.
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Product. This is whatever you're actually licensing.
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Sometimes it's also written as the Service,
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and sometimes Product and Service are used interchangeably.
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Apple, for example, calls iTunes a Service and anything purchased via iTunes a Product.
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Google, on the other hand, bundles all of its products, services, and websites,
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and calls them the "Services" in the license agreement for Chrome.
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No matter what you're working with, the Product or the Service is generally what you're actually using, the thing you're licensing.
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Terms. Terms are what you agree to.
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Terms of service, Terms and conditions, whatever it is.
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These are the rules that you are agreeing to abide by as long as you're using the Product or the Service.
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Term. Now Terms are not to be confused with the word Term, which is not plural.
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If a license has an expiration date, that length of time that the license is effective is called a Term.
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A Term might be included in the Terms so be on the lookout for that missing "s".
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If you're licensing a song for your App or a stock photo for your website, these licenses often don't last forever.
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If you can only use something for a year or two until you need to renew the license, then that's pretty important to know about.
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Territory. Territory is pretty self-explanatory.
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It's the physical location the license is good in.
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On the web lots of licenses are world-wide, they apply everywhere.
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But there are plenty of licenses that only are effective in certain countries.
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It's the reason some songs are available on Spotify in the United Kingdom but not in the United States
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or why some software is released only in the United States but not in other countries.
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Now on the other hand I've seen licenses that cover "the known universe",
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so maybe the Territory won't end up being much of an issue for you.
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But making sure that what you are licensing is okay to use not only in your country but in others is a key bit of info.
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So Product, Terms, Term, and Territory.
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What, how, for how long, and where,
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often the most important stuff to look for in any license agreement.
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