CC BY-NC 4.0 vs CC BY-NC-SA 4.0: what is the difference?

Short answer: 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.

CC BY-NC 4.0: commercial use, modification, redistribution: No

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

• CC BY-NC 4.0 prohibits commercial_use.

Duties: attribution, license_notice, state_changes, no_additional_restrictions

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0: the same uses: No

License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0, curated)

• CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 prohibits commercial_use.

Duties: attribution, license_notice, state_changes, no_additional_restrictions, share_alike

Duties and notes compared

• CC-BY-NC-4.0: duties 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: duties 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.

Context

• The duties differ: compare the duties and notes listed for each license below.

Sources

• Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International: official text
• CC-BY-NC-4.0 on the SPDX License List
• Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International: official text
• CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0 on the SPDX License List

Check it yourself (free, no key)

{
  "tool": "check_license",
  "arguments": {
    "license": "CC-BY-NC-4.0",
    "intended_use": {
      "commercial_use": true,
      "modification": true,
      "redistribution": true
    }
  }
}

Computed from Rightshold's license profiles; not legal advice. Updated 2026-10-19. JSON · Markdown