In the field of intellectual property licensing, an advance against royalties is a payment made by the licensee to the licensor at the start of the period of licensing (usually immediately upon contract, or on delivery of the property being licensed) which is to be offset against future royalty payments. It is also known as a guaranteed minimum royalty payment. In some business areas (e.g. film production), it is common practice for the licensee to demand repayment of any advance that is not covered by royalties, whereas in others (e.g. book publication) this practice is unusual.