methods according to preferred embodiments of the present invention include establishing a licensing component on a plurality of servers , where each licensing component has a count of licenses . each server is in communication with at least one other server on the network . when a server requires more licenses than are available according to its count , it sends a request to the other servers via the network . a server with surplus licenses responds to the request and supplies the requesting server with additional licenses . further aspects of the invention include systems , software license models , and methods for implementing flexible software license models , which may utilize the aforementioned methods of the present invention .