Is use X a violation of the Noncommercial clause of the licenses?
Depends. Determining what does and doesn’t constitute commercial use is not always easy. We are aware of the complications related to drawing a line between commercial and noncommercial use and are working to clarify the issue. If you are really in doubt about whether a particular use violates the noncommercial term of a CC license, we recommend that you use works that are explicitly licensed for commercial use (for example, material under our BY, BY-SA, and BY-ND licenses). Alternatively, you may wish to approach the licensor directly to see if you need to discuss a commercial use agreement. CC is currently conducting a study on the meaning of noncommercial. We hope to announce the results of the study in early 2009.
Our noncommercial licenses (BY-NC, BY-NC-SA, BY-NC-ND) prohibit uses that are “primarily intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or private monetary compensation.” Whether or not a use is or is not commercial will depend on the specifics of the situation and the intentions of the user, as stated in the definition. In our experience, most of the time whether a use is permitted is pretty clear, and known conflicts are relatively few considering the popularity of the NC licenses. As with all license terms, however, there will always be use cases that are challenging to categorize as commercial or noncommercial. CC cannot help you determine what is and is not commercial use. If you are unsure, we suggest that you either contact the licensor for clarification or search for works licensed under a CC license that permits commercial uses (BY, BY-SA, BY-ND).
