What does CC BY-NC 4.0 allow?

CC BY-NC 4.0 lets you share and adapt a work for noncommercial purposes only. You may copy, distribute, display, perform, and create adaptations, provided you do not use the work primarily for commercial advantage or monetary compensation. The decisive condition: any use primarily intended for or directed toward commercial advantage is barred. Before you begin, record the creator, source URL, exact license version, and any modification notices. Then confirm your planned use carries no commercial element.

CC BY-NC 4.0 is one of six Creative Commons licenses in the 4.0 International suite. It operates on top of copyright: the creator retains copyright while granting the public specified permissions in advance. The license is worldwide, royalty-free, non-sublicensable, non-exclusive, and irrevocable for the term of the licensed copyright and similar rights. It does not license patent, trademark, privacy, personality, or moral rights beyond the limited extent stated in its legal code.

What Attribution Requires

When the licensor supplies them, you must retain: identification of the creator and designated attribution parties, a copyright notice, a notice referring to the license, and a warranty disclaimer. You must also provide a URI or hyperlink to the material where reasonably practicable. Link to or name the license. Indicate modifications and keep earlier modification notices. Attribution may be done in any reasonable manner for the medium. If the licensor requests removal, remove attribution information where reasonably practicable. Never imply endorsement.

Version 4.0 defines NonCommercial as not primarily intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or monetary compensation. The identity of the user, business, nonprofit, school, or individual, does not decide the issue by itself. Advertising, sponsorship, fundraising, internal business use, and mixed purposes all require context. Do not invent a bright-line rule. If the planned use carries material commercial risk, get separate permission or local legal advice.

One Allowed Use

A school teacher shares a CC BY-NC 4.0 diagram on the class website for students to study. No one pays for access. No ads run on the page. The school does not sell the diagram. The use is noncommercial. The teacher attributes the creator and links to the license.

One Disallowed Use

A company downloads a CC BY-NC 4.0 photograph and prints it on merchandise it sells for profit. Even if the company credits the photographer, the use is primarily for commercial advantage. The license does not permit this. The company needs separate permission from the copyright holder.

The permissions granted are sharing and adaptations for NonCommercial purposes only. The conditions: attribution, NonCommercial use, and no additional legal terms or effective technological measures that restrict another recipient's exercise of the licensed rights. Under version 4.0, if you breach the terms, the license terminates automatically. It is automatically reinstated from the date the violation is cured, provided you cure within 30 days after discovering it. Express reinstatement by the licensor is a separate route. Cure does not erase possible liability for the period of violation.

• Share, copy and distribute the work unchanged for noncommercial purposes
• Adapt, create and share adaptations for noncommercial purposes, with attribution and modification notices
• Attribute, retain all supplied notices, link to the license, indicate changes
• Not for commercial advantage, no use primarily intended for commercial advantage or monetary compensation
• No additional restrictions, do not impose extra legal terms or DRM that restrict others

When you comply with the conditions, the license grants permission worldwide for the term of the licensed copyright and similar rights. It applies only where copyright or similar rights require permission. Exceptions and limitations such as fair use or fair dealing operate separately. If an exception authorises the use, the license conditions do not apply to that use. Their scope varies by jurisdiction.

Version 4.0 expressly addresses sui generis database rights. It does not license patent or trademark rights. Moral, privacy, and personality rights are handled only to the limited extent stated in the legal code and may still matter. Possession of a CC-licensed copy is not a guarantee that the uploader owned all necessary rights or that every component is covered.

The most common error is assuming a nonprofit or educational user is automatically noncommercial, or that a for-profit business is automatically commercial. Neither is true under the 4.0 definition. A nonprofit can run a fundraiser using a CC BY-NC 4.0 work in a way that is primarily for commercial advantage. A business might use the work internally for research without commercial gain. The test is the purpose of the specific use, not the type of entity.

Another mistake: thinking that crediting the creator makes a commercial use acceptable. Attribution is a separate condition. It does not turn a commercial use into a noncommercial one. A third error is believing that deleting the creator's name makes the use noncommercial. That is a breach of the attribution condition, not a way to avoid the NonCommercial condition.

Under CC BY-NC 4.0, you may create adapted material and share it for noncommercial purposes. Translation is normally an adaptation under the 4.0 definition. Synchronising music with a moving image is expressly Adapted Material. Whether cropping, excerpting, editing, or combining creates an adaptation depends on applicable copyright law. Do not declare a universal boundary.

When you share an adaptation, apply the same CC BY-NC 4.0 license or a compatible one. Retain the original attribution and modification notices. Add your own notice indicating changes. The adapter's license covers only the contribution made by the adapter; the original work remains under its own license.

Open the original source page. Do not rely on a repost, search thumbnail, or platform filter alone. Record the creator, source URL, exact license and version, displayed notices, exclusions, and the date checked. Preserve a screenshot when the use matters. Confirm the intended activity: share unchanged, adapt, use commercially, or combine. Test the NC, ND, and SA conditions against that activity. Check non-copyright permissions: people depicted or recorded, brands, data, location or property restrictions, confidentiality, and platform rules. Attribute in a reasonable manner, link the exact license, mark changes, and avoid implying endorsement.

The single most frequent failure with CC BY-NC 4.0 is a reuser assuming that because they are not charging money, their use is automatically noncommercial. Advertising revenue, sponsorship, fundraising, and even boosting a paid service can each make a use commercial under the definition. The license says 'primarily intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or monetary compensation.' If your use generates income in any form, or is part of a revenue-generating operation, assess it carefully. When in doubt, get separate permission or local legal advice. Creative Commons does not enforce individual licenses or decide whether a particular use is lawful.