CC BY-NC 4.0 vs CC BY-NC-SA 4.0: what is the difference?
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TL;DR: CC BY-NC 4.0: commercial use, modification, redistribution: No. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0: the same uses: No. CC BY-NC 4.0: Share and adapt with credit, for non-commercial purposes only. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0: Share and adapt with credit, for non-commercial purposes only; adaptations you share must carry the same license.
Is cC BY-NC 4.0: commercial use, modification, redistribution 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 cC BY-NC-SA 4.0: the same uses allowed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International?
No. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 prohibits commercial_use.
License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0, curated)
Duties: attribution, license_notice, state_changes, no_additional_restrictions, share_alike
How do CC-BY-NC-4.0 and CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0 compare?
The table lists each license's duties and notes side by side.
| License | Duties | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| CC-BY-NC-4.0 | attribution, license_notice, state_changes, no_additional_restrictions | The grant is non-sublicensable: every recipient receives the license directly from the licensor (section 2(a)(5)). You may not apply legal terms or technical measures that restrict recipients from exercising the licensed rights (section 2(a)(5)(C)). |
| CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0 | attribution, license_notice, state_changes, no_additional_restrictions, share_alike | The grant is non-sublicensable: every recipient receives the license directly from the licensor (section 2(a)(5)). You may not apply legal terms or technical measures that restrict recipients from exercising the licensed rights (section 2(a)(5)(C)). |
Combined in one work: needs_review.
What else should I know?
- The duties differ: compare the duties and notes listed for each license below.
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,
"modification": true,
"redistribution": true
}
}
}Computed from a2ally's license profiles; not legal advice. JSON · Markdown
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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}}'
