NCSA is a BSD/MIT hybrid from UIUC. Keep notices in source and binaries. LLVM used a related form historically.
On this page
What it does
The University of Illinois/NCSA Open Source License combines BSD-3 notice rules with MIT-style permission language. You may use, change and ship commercially. Keep the copyright and permission notices. Do not use the University name to endorse. Clang/LLVM started here before moving to Apache-2.0 with LLVM exceptions.
Pros
- Easy to drop into a closed, paid product. Procurement has seen this family many times.
- No copyleft on your own files. You keep your source private.
Cons
- The notice duty is easy to miss in a desktop, mobile, or container build. A web page is not a substitute for notices inside the artifact.
- Transitive copies in the lockfile count. Listing only direct dependencies leaves notices out.
What it allows and requires
Choose a category to see the full grant in one scannable list. Permissions show what the license allows, limits show what it withholds, and obligations show the conditions your release process must satisfy.
Permissions
Commercial use
You may ship the code inside a paid product. The license does not restrict commercial use.
Modify
You may change the code, including keeping those changes private, unless a later obligation says otherwise.
Distribute
You may give copies to others. Distribution is what usually turns notice and source duties into real work.
Sublicense
You may include the code under your own product terms, so long as you still meet this license's conditions.
Private use
Use inside your company, including internal forks, does not by itself trigger distribution duties.
Limits
Hold liable
The authors disclaim warranty. Recipients cannot hold them liable for damages arising from the software, except where law forbids that disclaimer.
Use trademark
The license is not a trademark license. Names, logos and product marks stay with their owners unless a separate grant says otherwise.
Patent grant
The text does not grant patents. If buyers want an express patent grant, Apache-2.0 is the usual alternative.
Obligations
Include copyright
Keep the copyright line with every copy or substantial portion you distribute.
Include license
Keep the license text with every copy or substantial portion you distribute. A web page is not a substitute for notices inside a shipped artifact.
What NCSA requires when you ship
When a copy that includes NCSA code leaves your company, the grant is broad and the paperwork is easy to miss. Distribution here means an installer, a mobile binary, a container image, or an SDK another team embeds. Work this list against the artifact you actually hand over, not against a README. A hosted service that never gives out a copy still belongs on the record, but the notice duty does not fire until a copy exists.
You meet the notice condition when each NCSA component's copyright line and license text appear in the material the recipient actually gets.
You are done for a hosted service that never hands out a copy. Running the software for users over a network does not, by itself, trigger a notice duty.
You are covered for a desktop, mobile or on-premise build when the notices sit inside the artifact. An about screen or a bundled licenses file both work.
The duties named in NCSA
The license text itself is short. These are the named conditions. They follow the code, including files you vendor into your own repository and transitive packages in the lockfile.
Include copyright
Keep the copyright line with every copy or substantial portion you distribute.
Include license
Keep the license text with every copy or substantial portion you distribute. A web page is not a substitute for notices inside a shipped artifact.
Things to be aware of
- Reading NCSA as no obligations at all and shipping a binary with no notices in it. Put the notices in the artifact you hand over.
- Deleting the license header when you copy one or two files into your own repository. The condition follows the code, not the package it came in.
What the NCSA / University of Illinois License does not do
Search results often flatten NCSA / University of Illinois License into a slogan. These are the usual misreads. NCSA is a grant with conditions, not a permission to skip the paperwork below.
- NCSA does not mean no obligations. The copyright line and the license text still have to travel with copies you distribute.
- NCSA does not force you to open your own source. There is no copyleft here unless a later clause in this text says otherwise.
How NCSA differs from nearby licenses
These licenses are often confused with NCSA, but their release duties differ. Each row summarizes what the license requires when you ship. Open the linked page for the full checklist.
- NCSA
- NCSA is a BSD/MIT hybrid from UIUC. Keep notices in source and binaries. LLVM used a related form historically.
- MIT
- MIT lets you ship the code inside a closed, paid product. The one condition is that the copyright line and license text travel with every copy.
- BSD-3-Clause
- Permissive like MIT, with one extra rule: you may not use the authors' names to promote your product. Notices travel with source and binaries.
- Apache-2.0
- Permissive like MIT, plus an express patent grant. The catch is the NOTICE file: it has to travel inside the binaries you ship.
Common questions about NCSA / University of Illinois License
Answers to common questions about what NCSA / University of Illinois License requires, when its duties apply, and what evidence belongs with a release.
What is the NCSA / University of Illinois License?
The University of Illinois/NCSA Open Source License combines BSD-3 notice rules with MIT-style permission language. You may use, change and ship commercially. Keep the copyright and permission notices. Do not use the University name to endorse. Clang/LLVM started here before moving to Apache-2.0 with LLVM exceptions.
What does NCSA require when you ship a product?
You meet the notice condition when each NCSA component's copyright line and license text appear in the material the recipient actually gets. You are done for a hosted service that never hands out a copy. Running the software for users over a network does not, by itself, trigger a notice duty. You are covered for a desktop, mobile or on-premise build when the notices sit inside the artifact. An about screen or a bundled licenses file both work.
Does NCSA require me to open my own source?
NCSA does not force you to open your own source. There is no copyleft here unless a later clause in this text says otherwise.
How do I attribute NCSA in a product I ship?
Attribution for NCSA means the copyright line and the license text travel with every copy a recipient actually gets. That can be an about screen, a licenses file inside the installer, or a notice in the container image. A public page helps a buyer audit the inventory. It does not replace notices inside the artifact. If you copied files into your own repository, the header on those files still has to stay.
Is a website notice enough for NCSA?
No. NCSA talks about copies. A public attestation page is the honest list for procurement. The condition is met when the notices sit in the material you hand over. Put them in the installer, the about screen, or a licenses file inside the binary, then keep the same texts on the page.
Do transitive NCSA dependencies count?
Yes. The condition follows the code, not the package you chose by name. If the lockfile pulled in NCSA transitively and you distribute that tree, those notices travel too. Listing only direct dependencies is how teams miss the duty.
How is NCSA different from MIT License?
NCSA asks this: NCSA is a BSD/MIT hybrid from UIUC. Keep notices in source and binaries. LLVM used a related form historically. MIT License asks this: MIT lets you ship the code inside a closed, paid product. The one condition is that the copyright line and license text travel with every copy. Open the MIT License page for what that license requires when you ship. Do not treat the SPDX ids as interchangeable because the short names look similar.
Where do I record NCSA for a buyer?
NCSA is a notice license in the catalog, so a component under it needs license text attached before it counts as live on your published page. SourceTrust fetches the published artifact, extracts the license file, and compares that text against the declared SPDX id. A match fills the text in. Every other outcome waits for a person. The stored text is what your page and each export file carry.
Where do I record NCSA for a buyer?
NCSA is a notice license in the catalog, so a component under it needs license text attached before it counts as live on your published page. SourceTrust fetches the published artifact, extracts the license file, and compares that text against the declared SPDX id.
A match fills the text in. Every other outcome waits for a person.
The stored text is what your page and each export file carry. Read /docs/auto-fetch-license for how the fetch works.
See also
The hub is the pillar for this cluster. Sibling licenses are the other spokes. Product FAQ links explain how SourceTrust records the duty, not the license text itself.
Practical guidance for procurement review, not legal advice. Confirm high-stakes use with counsel.