If you buy a software license, you don't own the software, but do you own the LICENSE per se?

Question

And if you do OWN the license, can a licensing agreement still limit what you can and cannot do with the license (e.g. give it to someone else, resell it, separate it from the terms of the agreement, etc.)

Answer 1

You are confusing purchase and ownership - your paying for a license doesn;t mean that you own the license.



A license to do something means that the person who already has that something is allowing you to use it as well. It's use of the object - and not the object itself - that's paid for.



Nobody owns a license - that's an oxymoron. License to something implies that you're getting permission to use something from somebody else.



"Can a vendor say you don't own something, even if you paid for it?"



I believe that car rental companies do that everyday.

Answer 2

Yes - when you click the button that says "I Agree" to the terms of the license statement, then you're bound by that agreement. The specifics could very well include the examples you give, though the specifics will vary depending on the software and publisher.



Depending on the terms of the license agreement that you accepted, a vendor could indeed say that you don't "own" the software, but only own the license to operate that software in accordance with the terms of the license. The terms of the license may include rules for who may operate the software, whether they can transfer it to another user, whether they can resell the license, etc.

Answer 3

The LICENSE is the permission for you to use the software. The license AGREEMENT is the contract that you have to abide by.



So when you purchase software, (as you stated), you are purchasing a license to use the software. You are not purchasing the agreement.