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Clarification: does MODEL_LICENSE §3 "reference and learning purposes only" restrict commercial use? / 关于 §3 与商用边界的确认 #334
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Status update (2026-09-22): This is an earlier response, not final license-owner confirmation. As explained in the reopening follow-up, this issue remains open pending license-owner/core-maintainer confirmation and an opportunity for the reporter to respond. The original response below is retained as discussion history and should not substitute for that confirmation.
状态更新（2026-09-22）： 以下为早期回复，不是许可方的最终确认。按重新打开 issue 时的说明，本问题仍在等待许可方/核心维护者确认，并保留报告者反馈的机会。下方原回复作为讨论历史保留，不应替代该确认。
Thanks for raising this precise question. The repository source code and the model weights use different licenses:
- Source code in this repository: MIT.
- Official SenseVoiceSmall weights: FunASR Model Open Source License Agreement v1.1, as linked by the official model card.
For the three questions:
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Section 3 is the responsibility/risk disclaimer; it is not an additional non-commercial-use restriction. Section 2.1 grants use, copying, modification, and sharing under the agreement. This is also consistent with our prior official clarification in #286: commercial use of SenseVoiceSmall is permitted when the license conditions are followed.
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Yes. Commercial use of the official SenseVoiceSmall weights is permitted. Under Section 2.2, please attribute the source and author information and retain the relevant model name. For example, an About/Licenses page can identify “SenseVoiceSmall by FunASR/FunAudioLLM” and link the model card and model license.
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Yes, fine-tuned derivative weights may remain private/closed. Section 1 expressly includes fine-tuned models in the definition of derivatives, while the agreement does not require publishing or distributing them. The Section 2.2 attribution/model-name requirements still apply when using, copying, modifying, or sharing the model.
This clarification applies to the official SenseVoiceSmall weights. Third-party conversions or bundled artifacts may carry additional terms, so their own model cards and notices should also be checked.
感谢提出这个明确的问题。仓库源码和模型权重适用不同许可证：
- 本仓库源码：MIT。
- 官方 SenseVoiceSmall 权重：模型卡所链接的 FunASR 模型开源协议 v1.1。
结论如下：
- 第 3 节属于责任和风险免责声明，不构成额外的“禁止商用”限制。 第 2.1 节授予在遵守协议前提下使用、复制、修改和分享模型的权利；此前 #286 也已作出一致的官方确认。
- 允许商业使用官方 SenseVoiceSmall 权重。 请按第 2.2 节注明出处、作者信息并保留相关模型名称。可以在产品的“关于/许可证”页面注明 “SenseVoiceSmall by FunASR/FunAudioLLM”，并链接模型卡和模型协议。
- 微调后的衍生权重可以保持私有/闭源。 第 1 节明确将 Finetune 后的模型纳入衍生品定义，协议没有要求必须公开或分发衍生权重；使用、复制、修改或分享时仍需遵守第 2.2 节的署名和模型名称要求。
以上说明针对官方 SenseVoiceSmall 权重。第三方转换版本或打包制品可能附带其他条款，仍需核对其各自模型卡和声明。
Reopening this because I answered and closed it immediately. A licensing question with production impact should remain open for core-maintainer confirmation and reporter acknowledgement; my earlier answer should be treated as context, not as a substitute for that confirmation. We will keep this issue open until the license owner/core maintainer confirms the interpretation and the reporter has had a chance to respond.
The question about whether §3 restricts commercial use is crucial. Clarifying if "reference and learning purposes only" is just part of the liability disclaimer would be really helpful.
Hi SenseVoice team — thank you for the excellent work. SenseVoiceSmall's multilingual quality (zh/yue/ja/ko) and built-in LID are outstanding in our on-device benchmarks.
We are evaluating SenseVoiceSmall for a commercial desktop dictation application (fully on-device inference, with attribution as required by §2.2 of the MODEL_LICENSE).
The MODEL_LICENSE is clear in §2.1 ("You are free to use, copy, modify, and share") and §2.2 (attribution required). However, §3 (Disclaimer) contains the sentence:
Could you kindly clarify:
A public clarification here would help all developers evaluating SenseVoice for production use. Thank you!
中文：我们正在评估在一款商业桌面听写应用中端侧使用 SenseVoiceSmall（将按 §2.2 要求完整署名）。MODEL_LICENSE §2.1 授权"自由使用、复制、修改、分享"，§2.2 要求署名；但 §3 免责声明中有"仅作为参考和学习使用"的表述。想请团队确认：
公开的官方澄清对所有评估 SenseVoice 生产使用的开发者都很有价值，非常感谢！