Legal Definitions - mechanical license

Definition: A mechanical license is a permission granted to produce and release a copyrighted work in exchange for a royalty based on the number of units manufactured and sold.

Example: A music artist wants to cover a popular song and release it on their album. They would need to obtain a mechanical license from the copyright owner of the original song in order to legally produce and sell their cover version. The royalty paid to the copyright owner would be based on the number of copies of the album sold.

This example illustrates how a mechanical license allows for the legal use of copyrighted material in exchange for compensation to the copyright owner.