“If you decide to set your Repository public, you grant each User a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to use, display, publish, reproduce, distribute, and make derivative works of your Content...”
This analysis describes what Hugging Face's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
Making a repository public triggers an irrevocable and perpetual license to all users, meaning you cannot later withdraw those rights even if you later make the repository private.
Interpretive note: The excerpt may be part of a longer clause that specifies additional conditions or limitations not visible here, such as whether a specific open-source license governs the content.
If you set your Hugging Face repository to public, any user of the platform receives a permanent, irrevocable license to use and build upon your content.
How other platforms handle this
User grants to Stripe...a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free license to use that Feedback for any purpose.
Our assignment above does not extend to other users' output or any Third Party Output.
The license granted to you for the App is a limited, non-transferable license to use the App on Mac product that you own or control and as permitted by the Usage Rules that are part of the terms of service in the Mac App Store.
"If you decide to set your Repository public, you grant each User a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to use, display, publish, reproduce, distribute, and make derivative works of your Content...Excerpt from Hugging Face's Terms of Service
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Making a repository public triggers an irrevocable and perpetual license to all users, meaning you cannot later withdraw those rights even if you later make the repository private.
If you set your Hugging Face repository to public, any user of the platform receives a permanent, irrevocable license to use and build upon your content.
ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 250 platforms. See the full comparison.
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