Also known as: implied licenses · implied licensing · implied licence
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An inferred grant of permission arising from circumstances or conduct that allows another to engage in acts that would otherwise be unlawful. The permission is limited to the scope that a reasonable person would understand from the surrounding facts and may be revoked by clear contrary action.
Officers approached Irene Ingalls's home with a drug-sniffing dog. They led the dog through a side gate into a fenced yard containing children's toys rather than stopping at the front door. The dog's alert occurred directly beneath a bedroom window. Because the side yard formed part of the curtilage, the dog's presence exceeded the limited permission ordinary visitors enjoy to approach and knock.
A foreign publisher sold textbooks to Supap Kirtsaeng in Thailand. Kirtsaeng later imported the books into the United States and resold them to students. The initial sale carried an implied permission for importation and resale because the circumstances showed the publisher had granted the rights that the first-sale doctrine recognizes.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
An implied license arises from conduct or surrounding circumstances rather than from spoken or written words. It is measured by what a reasonable person would understand the owner or creator to have permitted.
Supporting sources
Yes. Clear posted notice such as "No Trespassing" signs objectively communicates withdrawal of any prior permission. Once revoked, continued entry becomes trespass.
Supporting sources
No. The implied license permits only ordinary visitor conduct such as knocking on the front door. Bringing a trained detection dog to explore curtilage exceeds that scope and constitutes a search.
A sale carries an implied license to resell when the circumstances demonstrate that the parties intended the work to be used in the manner the first-sale doctrine protects, such as lawful importation and resale to students.
Supporting sources
…right after they had been directly told that they were prohibited from doing so. We concluded that the defendants had an implied license to use the common areas of the building to contact tenants even without "any proof of direct authority"; and therefore, the defendant's "entry" was lawful.[^maj-19] Id. at 639-640. The…