Answer to Bar Question 02/18/08

(B) is the best response, because tickets to a sporting event are licenses.A ticket to a sporting event or other public function is virtually always considered a license rather than an easement.  A license is a right to use the licensor's land that is revocable at the will of the licensor.Janet's season tickets to Blackhawks' hockey games at the United Center constituted a license granted to her by Hull, Inc.  Because Janet held only a license, that interest was revocable at the will of the licensor.  (If the revocation had been without proper cause, Janet would have a claim for damages, but even then a court would not award her the right to attend games.  In the actual event, the fact that Janet violated the announced no-solicitation rule would probably prevent Janet from getting even damages.) 

(A) is not the best response, because Hull's right to revoke Janet's tickets arises under its rights as a licensor, not out of its "right and obligation to control activities..."A ticket to a sporting event or other public function is nearly always considered a license rather than an easement.  A license is a right to use the licensor's land that is revocable at the will of the licensor.  Although Hull may have a right and obligation to control activities on realty it owns, its right to revoke Janet's season tickets arises from the fact that it has issued Janet only a license. 

(C) is not the best response, because licenses issued for value can be revoked.A ticket to a sporting event or other public function is nearly always considered a license rather than an easement.  A license is a right to use the licensor's land that is revocable at the will of the licensor.  The fact that the licensee pays value for the license does not change the license's revocability, at least in cases where (as here) the licensee does not honor the rules governing the license. 

(D) is not the best response, because the terms of Janet's license prohibited solicitation.Janet would not need to be committing a nuisance for Hull to have the right to revoke her license.  Hull granted Janet a license in the form of season tickets.  That license expressly prohibited licensees from solicitations anywhere within the United Center at any time and in any manner.  When Janet violated this prohibition by soliciting signatures for her petition urging that the coach of the Blackhawks be fired, Hull had the right to revoke her license, whether Janet was a "nuisance" or not.