If I have a copyright licence, does this cover any use of the work?

The licence should specify what uses of the copyright work it covers. Unless it is a licence covering all possible uses under the economic rights, you will usually need to obtain further permission for additional uses.

Often a copyright owner will only give permission for some uses of a work, e.g. publication of a photograph in a particular newspaper, and if you want to use the work in any other way, e.g. by publishing the photograph in a magazine, you will need to seek further permission.

You may be able to make use of the copyright work beyond the terms of the licence where the use falls within the scope of one of the exceptions to copyright.  This does not usually apply where you have agreed to waive the possibility of benefiting from the exceptions in a contract, including a licence agreement, with the copyright owner.

In some cases, you may have only a verbal agreement about a licence to use a work. Or, the licence is only implicit in a broader agreement, such as a commissioning agreement to produce material that is clearly for use in/ by your business. Licences of this sort can be recognised in law, but it is difficult to prove their existence and what uses they cover. It is clearly better to have a licence agreement that is recorded.