Licenses Flashcards
What is the role of licenses in property law?
Licenses grant permission to use land in specific ways, legalising actions that would otherwise constitute trespass, without conferring property interest.
What are bare licenses?
Bare licenses are the standard form of license, revocable at the licensor’s will, but reasonable time must be given to the licensee to vacate upon revocation.
How did Winter Garden Theatre v Millennium Productions [1948] influence bare licenses?
It underscored the necessity of providing reasonable vacating time upon revocation to avoid classifying the former licensee as a trespasser.
What distinguishes contractual licenses from bare licenses?
Contractual licenses are embedded within agreements, creating complexities in revocation rights and legal remedies, unlike bare licenses which are easily revocable.
How do contractual licenses interact with third parties?
They allow a licensee in exclusive possession to sue strangers for trespass, emphasizing the significance of exclusive possession.
What principle allows licensees in exclusive possession to sue strangers for trespass?
(Which two cases elucidate this?)
The “relativity of title” principle, as demonstrated in National Provincial Bank v Ainsworth [1964] and Manchester Airport plc v Dutton [2000].
How do contractual licenses differ from leases?
Contractual licenses are more complex, often embedded within contracts and raising questions about revocation and legal remedies, unlike leases which confer a property interest.
What remedies are available to licensees under contractual licenses?
Legal remedies such as specific performance and injunctions against eviction by the licensor, recognising the licensee’s right to remain on the property under certain conditions.
What is the traditional view of licenses regarding successors in title?
Traditionally, licenses are not seen as property rights capable of binding successors in title, as rooted in cases like King v David Allen [1916] and Clore v Theatrical Properties [1936].
How did Lord Denning challenge the traditional view of contractual licenses in Errington v Errington [1952]?
Lord Denning suggested that contractual licenses could create equitable interests, challenging the orthodox view that licenses do not bind successors.
What was the court’s stance on contractual licenses creating equitable interests in Ashburn Anstalt v Arnold [1989]?
The court in Ashburn Anstalt v Arnold reaffirmed the distinction between contractual obligations and proprietary rights, ultimately rejecting Lord Denning’s perspective.
How did Lord Denning propose a contractual license could generate a new property right in Binions v Evans [1972]?
Lord Denning proposed that a contractual license could generate a new property right through a constructive trust.
How has the scope of contractual licenses and successors in title been narrowed in later cases? (What two key examples)
Cases like IDC v Clark [1992] and Lloyd v Dugdale [2001] emphasised the need for a new obligation by the successor to respect the license, narrowing the scope of Lord Denning’s propositions.
