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CC0 vs CC BY 4.0: what is the difference?

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TL;DR: CC0: commercial use, modification, redistribution: Yes. CC BY 4.0: the same uses: Yes. CC0: Dedicates the work to the public domain: copyright and related rights are waived as far as the law allows, with a fallback license where they cannot be. CC BY 4.0: Share and adapt the material for any purpose, including commercially, as long as you give credit, link the license and say if you changed it.

Is cC0: commercial use, modification, redistribution allowed under Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal?

Yes. Every use you described is granted by CC0, and nothing you described is prohibited.

License: Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal (CC0-1.0, curated)

Is cC BY 4.0: the same uses allowed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International?

Yes. Every use you described is granted by CC BY 4.0, and nothing you described is prohibited.

License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY-4.0, curated)

Duties: attribution, license_notice, state_changes, no_additional_restrictions

How do CC0-1.0 and CC-BY-4.0 compare?

The table lists each license's duties and notes side by side.

LicenseDutiesNotes
CC0-1.0noneTrademark and patent rights are not waived (section 4(a)). No warranties are given (section 4(b)).
CC-BY-4.0attribution, license_notice, state_changes, no_additional_restrictionsThe 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: compatible.

What else should I know?

What are the sources?

How can I check it myself (free, no key)?

{
  "tool": "check_license",
  "arguments": {
    "license": "CC0-1.0",
    "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}}'
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