Licensing

“ Such a defense is not allowed. 'It is well settled that where a licensing ordinance, valid on its face, prohibits certain conduct unless the person has a license, one who without a license engages in that conduct can be criminally prosecuted without being allowed to show that the application for a license would have been unavailing. * * * In short, the individual is given the choice of securing a license, or staying out of the occupation, or, before he acts, seeking a review in the civil courts of the licensing authority's refusal to issue him a license. ”

“ Any person who claims that he requires a licence in a case not covered by a licence scheme, and either—
(a) that a licensing body have refused or failed to grant the licence, or to procure the grant thereof, and that in the circumstances it is unreasonable that the licence should not be granted, or (b) that any charges, terms or conditions subject to which a licensing body propose that the licence should be granted are unreasonable,
may apply to the tribunal under this section. ”

“ The applicant for license must show affirmatively that he is trustworthy and competent. In the past the state took no pains to find this out. The licensing board operates as a poor man's court of redress in transactions arising out of the land business. ”

“ Any person who shall carry on any wholesale or retail trade or business, or who shall allow licensed premises to be in a condition which could disentitle him to a licence, shall be deemed to have contravened this Act, and shall be liable to a penalty of £20 for each offence, to be recovered by any Licensing Officer in the Court of the Magistrate. ”

“ A State may not enforce licensing requirements which, though valid in the absence of federal regulation, give 'the State's licensing board a virtual power of review over the federal determination' that a person or agency is qualified and entitled to perform certain functions, [4] or which impose upon the performance of activity sanctioned by federal license additional conditions not contemplated by Congress. [5] 'No State law can hinder or obstruct the free use of a license granted under an act of Congress.' Pennsylvania v. ”

“ Mr. C. A. de R. Labistour appeared for the applicant, and said his client had ample capital to start in a decent way of business in the premises, which had been most satisfactorily reported upon by the Sanitary Inspector. The applicant was a capable businessman. Mr. Collins: Have we had the Licensing Officer’s reasons? The Mayor: No. Mr. Taylor: I don’t think the Licensing Officer need give reasons, unless requested to do so by a majority of the Council. All that we have to do is to decide whether or not we will confirm the Licensing Officer’s decision. ”

“ In these Rules “Licenses”, unless otherwise specified, means either a wholesale or a retail license. “New License” means a license in respect of premises for which there is not at the date of application an existing license similar to that applied for. “Board or Council” means, as the case may be, the Licensing Board of the Division or the Town Council of a Borough, or the Local Board of a Township. ”

“ They, at least, have not laid themselves open to the charge of trimming. For more than thirty years the Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but the Bill, has been their cry; and as a consequence they have seen these years pass without the carrying of any real amendment of our licensing system.
In 1873 the Gladstone Government, now drawing towards the close of its remarkable history, introduced a great measure of licensing reform, known at the time as Mr. Bruce's Bill. ”

“ One half the doubts in life arise from the defects of language, and if this instrument had been called an exemption instead of a license, it would have given a better idea of its character. Licensing acts, in fact, in legislation, are universally restraining acts, as, for example, acts licensing gaming houses, retailers of spiritous liquors, &c. ”

“ Every person desiring to obtain a new license or a renewal of an existing license shall make application in writing to the Licensing Officer of the division, borough or township. The application shall contain the particulars set forth in Schedule A. 3. An applicant for a new license shall attach to his application a ground plan, drawn to scale, of the premises sought to be licensed. ”

“ In your opinion should not every play be seen by the Licenser, duly acted, with the costumes, before a licence can be granted? (b) and then that the licence be granted only on the condition that no alteration in word or action be made at any time, and under no pretence whatever, during the run, on pain of forfeiture of licence?
The above suggestions will serve as a foundation for some future Licensing Exam.-paper. ”

“ As Justice O'CONNOR notes in the course of refusing to apply one of the Freedman procedural mandates, the licensing in these cases is required of sexually oriented businesses, enterprises that will have every incentive to pursue the license applications vigorously. Ante, at 229-230. The ordinance requires that an application be acted on within 30 days. Licensing decisions suspending or revoking a license are immediately appealable to a permit and license appeal board and are stayed pending that appeal. ”

“ It follows that the tax is not forbidden because it is part of a licensing measure. Even where it is undisputed that the commerce is exclusively interstate in nature, 'not the mere fact or form of licensing, but what the license stands for by way of regulation is important.' Robertson v. ”

“ The publisher might have current contact information for the author or have the power to grant you permission.
A third option is to check with collective licensing agencies. [6] These are private groups that gather licensing privileges from authors and publishers. They grant permissions on behalf of the copyright owners and distribute royalty payments. Collective licensing agencies provide a more centralized and convenient means of getting permission, but they exist to gather money for their members, so they virtually always charge fees for permission. ”

“ No power was sought against a third party. Under the present statute, the Commission could make a choice only within the scope of its licensing power, i.e., to grant or deny the license on the basis of the situation of the applicant. It could insist that the applicant change its situation before it granted a license, but it could not act as a bankruptcy court to change that situation for the applicant. The public interest, after all, is in the effective use of the available channels, and only to that extent in what particular applicant receives a license. ”

“ A licensing body, organisation or person at whose instance a reference under section 31 or 32 or an application under section 33 is made, or a licensing body named in any such reference or application, may object to any application by an organisation or person to be made a party to the proceedings on the grounds that such organisation or person has no substantial interest in the matter in dispute. ”

“ A license cannot be revoked because a man is red-headed or because he was divorced, except for a calling, if such there be, for which red-headedness or an unbroken marriage may have some rational bearing. If a State licensing agency lays bare its arbitrary action, or if the State law explicitly allows it to act arbitrarily, that is precisely the kind of State action which the Due Process Clause forbids. ”

“ This regulation, obviously, elaborates upon and describes in fuller detail the step-by-step licensing procedure contemplated by §§ 182 and 185. It states, pursuant to the authority conferred by §§ 104, subd. b and 161, subd. i (3) , what safety findings shall be required at each stage of the proceeding. ”

“ But in all cases, even when mere notification is required, the governing authority has the right to refuse permission or to withdraw it for reasons given, and so it retains the power of control. At the same time holders of the permission may be compelled to pay for the privilege and so contribute to the public revenue. The great merit of the licensing system is its perfect elasticity, which permits adjustment to all sorts of conditions and to the varying demands of public opinion. ”

“ A body corporate or a partnership may make an application to the licensing authority in such form and manner as the licensing authority may determine to substitute another person (“the substitute person”) for the person whose name appears on the permit or the licence as the representative of the body corporate or the partnership. ”

“ In the metropolis, the power of licensing is exclusively in the hands of the Metropolitan Commissioners. In the provincial districts it rests with the justices at quarter sessions. These licenses are annually renewed, and they may be revoked by the Lord Chancellor. The patients are admitted upon an order signed by some relative or friend, with a statement of all the particulars of the case. ”

“ Penalty for violations of licensing provisions.Whoever willfully violates the provisions of any license, order, rule, or regulation issued pursuant to the authorization contained in this section shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than $10,000 or, if a natural person, may be imprisoned for not more than ten years, or both ”

“ The licensing officer may, in any case in which the licensing officer thinks fit, waive, remit or refund in whole or in part any financial penalty imposed or any interest due on any financial penalty. ”

“ No. 2980, 81st Cong., 2d Sess. 1-2; S.Rep. No. 1358, 81st Cong., 2d Sess. 5; cf. H.R.Rep. No. 1844, 80th Cong., 2d Sess. 1; 96 Cong.Rec. 13765, 14233, 14585.↑ See, e.g., S.Rep. No. 1358, 81st Cong., 2d Sess. 9:↑ We need not consider now the decisions in which this Court has struck down regulations requiring not merely registration but the securing of a license, issued either at the arbitrary discretion of licensing officials or by the application of licensing standards so broad or uncertain as to permit arbitrary action by officials, as prerequisite to the right to speak. ”

“ For example, inspections are required whenever ownership of a sexually oriented business changes, and when the business applies for the annual renewal of its permit. We, therefore, hold, as a threshold matter, that petitioners may raise a facial challenge to the licensing scheme, and that as the suit comes to us, the businesses challenging the scheme have a valid First Amendment interest. ”

“ After the passing of the Act, no new licences, except for eating-houses and refreshment-rooms, were to be granted unless the consent of the County Councils had first been obtained, and even when new licences were granted, it was to be on the express understanding that their renewal might “at any time be refused at the free and unqualified discretion of the licensing authority”. ”

“ Any city may create a licensing board to consist of the person who is the active head of the police department, the mayor of such city and one other person who shall be appointed by the city government, which board shall have delegated powers to investigate and decide the question of granting licenses under this chapter, and it may grant revocable blanket licenses to fraternal and other like organizations, to theatres and to undertakers. ”

“ Of course, cases may be imagined where the power to issue permits may be abused, and the permission accorded to social or political favorites and denied to others, who, for reasons totally disconnected with the merits of the case, are distasteful to the licensing power. ”

“ I am the applicant for the license. I have been in the Colony about ten years and in Newcastle about 8 years. I have held a license for three years, two years at the fruit shop, 42 Scott Street, and one year at the present store. Neither the inspecting officer nor any other officer of the borough has pointed out any objection to the premises to me. I do not know why my license was refused. The Licensing Officer has never been inside my premises. ”

“ A requirement of uniform, reasonable royalties in no way frees competition because, no matter what the royalty may be in this industry a licensee required to pay more than its licensor will be at a competitive disadvantage.'
'Compulsory licensing alone would not be enough to restore the industry to a healthy, competitive condition. ”

“ Licensing, like a tax payable on the exercise of a First Amendment right (Murdock v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 319 U.S. 105, 63 S.Ct. 870, 87 L.Ed. 1292) , is therefore unconstitutional. See Thomas v. Collins, 323 U.S. 516, 65 S.Ct. 315, 89 L.Ed. 430. Yet registration, like licensing, may have aspects of harassment and burden. ”

“ The greatest gain that has come to society, as distinguished from the individual, through the temperance movement is its effect in unconsciously informing the public that the regulation and administration of licensing is in itself a great and vital problem ”

“ Just as the licensing of private motor vehicles does not make them public carriers, the licensing of a man's private business, for tax or other purposes, does not under our system, at least so I had supposed, make him a public officer.
Different considerations control where the business of an enterprise is, as it were, the public's. Clearly the records of a business licensed to sell state-owned property are public records. Cf., e.g., Paladini v. Superior Court, supra; State v. ”

“ Said licensing authorities may at any time and without previous notice revoke licenses issued under this section if they have reason to believe that any provision of this section, or of any regulation or restriction prescribed thereunder, is being or will be violated.
s 5. Keeping open shops or warehouses and conducting business or doing work on the Lord's day. Whoever on the Lord's day keeps open his shop, warehouse or workhouse, or does any manner of labor, business or work, except works of necessity and charity, shall be punished by a fine of not more than fifty dollars. ”

“ Closely following this glance at the Licensers and their business is a description of the true Author and his business, and of the indignities and discomforts put upon him by the Licensing system:—
"When a man writes to the world, he summons up all his reason and deliberation to assist him ”