Can I use CC BY-NC content in a commercial product?
Last updated
TL;DR: Use in a commercial product: No. Non-commercial adaptation and sharing: Yes. CC BY-NC 4.0 allows sharing and adapting only for purposes not primarily intended for commercial advantage.
Is use in a commercial product allowed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International?
No. CC BY-NC 4.0 prohibits commercial_use.
License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC-BY-NC-4.0, curated)
Duties: attribution, license_notice, state_changes, no_additional_restrictions
Is non-commercial adaptation and sharing allowed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International?
Yes. Every use you described is granted by CC BY-NC 4.0, and nothing you described is prohibited.
License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC-BY-NC-4.0, curated)
Duties: attribution, license_notice, state_changes, no_additional_restrictions
What else should I know?
- For commercial use you need a separate license from the rights holder; the NC license itself cannot grant it.
What are the sources?
How can I check it myself (free, no key)?
{
"tool": "check_license",
"arguments": {
"license": "CC-BY-NC-4.0",
"intended_use": {
"commercial_use": true
}
}
}Computed from a2ally's license profiles; not legal advice. JSON · Markdown
Get a free API key in one call
No card and no email needed. 100 free credits; the license and policy checks stay free without a key.
curl -s -X POST https://www.a2ally.com/v1/accounts/signup -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"accept_terms":true}'
export A2ALLY_API_KEY=rs_... # the api_key from the reply (shown once)
curl -s https://www.a2ally.com/v1/licenses/check -H "Authorization: Bearer $A2ALLY_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"license":"MIT","intended_use":{"commercial_use":true}}'