When you grant a license, the copyright remains entirely in your hands. You effectively ‘rent out’ your work for a fixed or indefinite period. A licensee may do only what has been agreed—the so-called ‘usage rights.’ All other forms of reproduction or publication must be agreed with you separately.
You can also transfer the copyright to your work. You then effectively ‘sell’ your work for a fixed or indefinite period. Naturally, you can also attach financial or other conditions to that transfer or sale of your copyright.
A license can grant another party all possible forms of use on an exclusive basis. A transfer, on the other hand, can be limited to one or several specific forms of use. In practice, there therefore need not be much difference between the two forms of exploitation. The choice between them often comes down to the fact that an ‘owner’ has a stronger legal position than a ‘tenant.’
By law, a transfer must be recorded in writing. Licenses are also valid if they are agreed orally or can be inferred from particular actions. For example, if you send a letter to the editor with a photograph to a newspaper, you implicitly grant permission for publication. Although a license does not have to be arranged in writing, doing so is often an easy way to prevent misunderstandings!
Source: www.auteursrecht.nl
Would you like to learn more about this subject? See also the book Buiten beeld by the Burafo Foundation.
