Concept page
Ownership and Entitlements
An order records a transaction; an entitlement records access.
A receipt is not the whole access model
Orders and their items record the sale context. Entitlements connect the customer to a product and its current access policy. A free claim, manual grant, or approved external fulfillment can establish access through a path other than an ordinary paid checkout.
A serial can be a claim/activation mechanism, but ownership proof is still required by the configured flow. A serial assigned to a known owner must not transfer access to whoever types it first.
Check the entitlement at the point of use
Activation checks product ownership and device policy. Validation refreshes whether that access remains allowed. Downloads check eligible product access rather than merely accepting an order number or public file URL.
Recurring access can change with subscription state. Refund and revocation effects must target the affected purchase/product rather than unrelated products in the customer library.
Separate presentation from rights
Hiding an order in a portal is not necessarily entitlement removal. Removing a marketing contact is not license deactivation. Use the supported access action and review its effects before modifying customer records.
