copyright licensing creative-commons
Does forking a repository and modifying the contents violate CC BY-NC-ND 4.0?
<p>I attempted to ask this question on the Github community forums, but it was flagged as spam and awaiting a review before being open again.</p>
<p>I recently picked up the hobby of creative writing in my downtime, and I wanted to use Github to post a web serial novel as <code>.pdf</code> files. The issue is, I <strong>don't</strong> want people to modify and redistribute my work. They can download it, even turn it into another format, for example, <code>.tex</code>, but I don't want them to modify the text itself (a derivative) and share it.</p>
<p>Before I go any further, I understand I'm using Github in a way it wasn't intended, so it may be difficult to do what I want.</p>
<p>I attempted to research further, and it seems the <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><code>CC BY-NC-ND 4.0</code></a> licence is what I require.</p>
<ol>
<li>Is <code>CC BY-NC-ND 4.0</code> licence correct for my situation?</li>
</ol>
<p>From the Github's <a href="https://docs.github.com/en/repositories/managing-your-repositorys-settings-and-features/customizing-your-repository/licensing-a-repository#choosing-the-right-license" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ToS</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Note: If you publish your <strong>source code</strong> in a public repository on
GitHub, according to the Terms of Service, other users of GitHub have
the right to view and fork your repository.</p>
</blockquote>
<ol start="2">
<li>As stated, I can't prohibit someone from forking the repository containing the <code>.pdf</code> files, but if they attempted to modify and redistribute the text, they would be in direct violation of the <code>CC BY-NC-ND 4.0</code> licence, correct?</li>
</ol>
<p>The easiest solution would be to not use Github. It might be better to use Amazon KDP, as they are set up to handle this type of situation.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>From the Github's <a href="https://docs.github.com/en/repositories/managing-your-repositorys-settings-and-features/customizing-your-repository/licensing-a-repository#choosing-the-right-license" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ToS</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Note: If you publish your <strong>source code</strong> in a public repository on
GitHub, according to the Terms of Service, other users of GitHub have
the right to view and fork your repository.</p>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<p>Note that what you quoted as &quot;from GitHub's ToS&quot; is <em>not</em> a quote from <a href="https://docs.github.com/en/github/site-policy/github-terms-of-service" rel="nofollow noreferrer">GitHub's ToS</a>. It is a quote from GitHub's <em>documentation</em> about how to use the Repository Settings page.</p>
<p><a href="https://docs.github.com/en/github/site-policy/github-terms-of-service#5-license-grant-to-other-users" rel="nofollow noreferrer">This is the actual quote from the ToS</a>, and I believe it is much clearer [<strong>bold</strong> emphasis mine]:</p>
<blockquote>
<h1>5. License Grant to Other Users</h1>
<p>Any User-Generated Content you post publicly, including issues, comments, and contributions to other Users' repositories, may be <strong>viewed</strong> by others. By setting your repositories to be viewed publicly, you agree to <strong>allow others to view and &quot;fork&quot;</strong> your repositories (this means that <strong>others may make their own copies</strong> of Content from your repositories in repositories they control).</p>
<p>If you set your pages and repositories to be viewed publicly, <strong>you grant each User of GitHub a nonexclusive, worldwide license</strong> to <strong>use, display, and perform</strong> Your Content through the GitHub Service and to <strong>reproduce</strong> Your Content solely on GitHub as permitted through GitHub's functionality (for example, through forking). You <strong>may</strong> grant further rights if you adopt a license. […]</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The actual ToS make it very clear that the <em>only</em> rights you grant to other users are all about viewing, using, displaying, performing, and copying, but <em>not</em> about modification.</p>
