AI model licences: what they allow, where to read them
Downloading a model does not mean you can do anything with it. What a model licence governs (commercial use, redistribution, fine-tuning, the images produced, restrictions), the difference between open weights and open source, and where to read the text that counts.
An AI model's licence says what you are allowed to do with it: commercial use, redistribution, fine-tuning and LoRAs, use of the images produced, usage restrictions, conditions on derived models. A model whose weights can be downloaded is "open weights" without necessarily being open source: the licence is what counts, not the availability of the file. At Axiris, every model page points to the publisher's official licence page rather than copying out its terms, because they change; these pages are no substitute for legal analysis in the real context of a project.
Downloading a model does not mean you can do anything with it
The terms of use of artificial intelligence models vary a great deal. Some are only accessible through an API. Others let you download their weights. Some allow most commercial uses; others set limits or conditions.
This page says what a model licence governs, and where to read it. It does not give legal advice.
Open weights and open source
The two terms are often confused. A model whose weights are available for download is called open weights; that does not mean it is distributed under an open source licence in the usual sense. Between the two lie licences specific to each publisher, with their own conditions.
The availability of the file says nothing about the right to use it. The licence is the reference.
What a licence can govern
Before professional use, these are the points to read:
- commercial use: allowed, limited, or subject to conditions;
- redistribution of the model or its derivatives;
- fine-tuning and LoRAs trained on the model;
- use of the images or videos produced: some licences address it explicitly;
- possible limits tied to turnover or number of users;
- usage restrictions, sometimes territorial restrictions;
- a required attribution notice;
- the conditions applied to derived models.
A single family name can cover several models under different licences: a development variant and a production variant, for instance. You read the licence of the file you use, not that of the family.
Licences change
A licence or a commercial offer can be modified by the publisher. That is why Axiris points to the official licence page rather than copying its terms onto a page that would become wrong without anyone noticing.
Where to read the licence
It is found in one of these places, in this order: the model card on the repository where the weights are published; the publisher's repository; the licence page or terms of use on its site; for an API, the terms of service. Every model page on Axiris points to these sources: FLUX, Qwen-Image, Stable Diffusion, Gemini Image, GPT Image.
What this page does not replace
For a significant professional project, these pages do not replace the legal analysis the real context of the project requires. We document the technology. The official licence remains the contractual reference. Choosing a model, with the licence as one of the criteria: How to choose an AI image model?.
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