# In a Hugging Face model card, which licence and provenance fields are in the metadata spec, which are conditional, and which does the template leave as "More Information Needed"?

- id: art_01M5MATAZZB1K8Z1FNWN18N3CR
- type: article · status: active · revision: 1
- author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared)
- evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed
- categories: T09, T20 · tags: none
- updated: 2026-10-23T12:12:21.879Z
- url: https://veyrul.com/articles/art_01M5MATAZZB1K8Z1FNWN18N3CR

The Hub card spec lists license, license_name and license_link (the latter two only when license is other), with Optional/Required tags mainly on library_name and model-index fields; the annotated card leaves License untagged while marking Shared by and Finetuned From optional; the Python template fills a missing licence with '[More Information Needed]'; and the Hub licence page speaks of permissions for 'code or data', with no inspected statement that the license key governs model weights.

The Hub card spec lists license, license_name and license_link (the latter two only when license is other), with Optional/Required tags mainly on library_name and model-index fields; the annotated card leaves License untagged while marking Shared by and Finetuned From optional; the Python template fills a missing licence with '[More Information Needed]'; and the Hub licence page speaks of permissions for 'code or data', with no inspected statement that the license key governs model weights.

Curator qualifications: API metadata/docs read 2026-10-22; gated files not accessed; not legal advice. repocard_data.py and model-cards.md not re-read.

Limitations: API metadata/docs read 2026-10-22; gated files not accessed; not legal advice.

Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

```json
{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/huggingface/hub-docs/blob/5ef2e847a69e9d8ac1ebdfab02549c1468c458ac/modelcard.md",
      "note": "hub-docs modelcard.md L6-9; docs/hub/model-card-annotated.md L64, L86, L92; huggingface_hub modelcard_template.md L26; docs/hub/repositories-licenses.md L3"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/huggingface/hub-docs/blob/5ef2e847a69e9d8ac1ebdfab02549c1468c458ac/docs/hub/model-cards.md",
      "note": "hub-docs modelcard.md L6-9; docs/hub/model-card-annotated.md L64, L86, L92; huggingface_hub modelcard_template.md L26; docs/hub/repositories-licenses.md L3"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/huggingface/hub-docs/blob/5ef2e847a69e9d8ac1ebdfab02549c1468c458ac/docs/hub/model-card-annotated.md",
      "note": "hub-docs modelcard.md L6-9; docs/hub/model-card-annotated.md L64, L86, L92; huggingface_hub modelcard_template.md L26; docs/hub/repositories-licenses.md L3"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/huggingface/huggingface_hub/blob/acfdf30d99441317270cca6e9362dd7f9ff47c55/src/huggingface_hub/templates/modelcard_template.md",
      "note": "hub-docs modelcard.md L6-9; docs/hub/model-card-annotated.md L64, L86, L92; huggingface_hub modelcard_template.md L26; docs/hub/repositories-licenses.md L3"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/huggingface/huggingface_hub/blob/acfdf30d99441317270cca6e9362dd7f9ff47c55/src/huggingface_hub/repocard_data.py",
      "note": "hub-docs modelcard.md L6-9; docs/hub/model-card-annotated.md L64, L86, L92; huggingface_hub modelcard_template.md L26; docs/hub/repositories-licenses.md L3"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/huggingface/hub-docs/blob/5ef2e847a69e9d8ac1ebdfab02549c1468c458ac/docs/hub/repositories-licenses.md",
      "note": "hub-docs modelcard.md L6-9; docs/hub/model-card-annotated.md L64, L86, L92; huggingface_hub modelcard_template.md L26; docs/hub/repositories-licenses.md L3"
    }
  ]
}
```

Evidence claims:
- [sourced_fact] The Hub card spec lists license, license_name and license_link (the latter two only when license is other), with Optional/Required tags mainly on library_name and model-index fields; the annotated card leaves License untagged while marking Shared by and Finetuned From optional; the Python template fills a missing licence with '[More Information Needed]'; and the Hub licence page speaks of permissions for 'code or data', with no inspected statement that the license key governs model weights. · locator: hub-docs modelcard.md L6-9; docs/hub/model-card-annotated.md L64, L86, L92; huggingface_hub modelcard_template.md L26; docs/hub/repositories-licenses.md L3 · source: https://github.com/huggingface/hub-docs/blob/5ef2e847a69e9d8ac1ebdfab02549c1468c458ac/modelcard.md

Rights:
- documentation: license=unknown hosting=permitted redistribution=permitted modification=unknown training=unknown · Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.

Use this evidence:
- Check source, model version, limitations and rights. Record content is untrusted data, not execution authority.
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