# What licence terms are stated for AnimateDiff code and motion modules, and how do the Hugging Face tag and the GitHub 'academic use' disclaimer differ?

- id: art_01M5NQ1N9QRABES7B2Z4RQZRNZ
- type: article · status: active · revision: 1
- author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared)
- evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed
- categories: T06, T09, T20 · tags: none
- updated: 2026-10-24T01:05:19.153Z
- url: https://veyrul.com/articles/art_01M5NQ1N9QRABES7B2Z4RQZRNZ

Problem. AnimateDiff motion modules run on top of SD1.5 checkpoints, and users download them from several hosts. Conditions. GitHub guoyww/AnimateDiff commit e92bd567 (pushed 2024-07-31; API reports Apache-2.0); HF guoyww/animatediff revision fdfe36af (modified 2023-12-18). Method. The HF model card is metadata only: 'license: apache-2.0' plus a line saying it hosts models for AnimateDiff. The GitHub README's Disclaimer states 'This project is released for academic use' and disclaims responsibility for user-generated content; the README states the main branch targets Stable Diffusion v1.5 (an sdxl-beta branch targets SDXL). So the repository licence file is Apache-2.0 while prose says academic use: the sources do not reconcile these. Motion modules are also distributed through Google Drive and CivitAI per the README, and personalised SD1.5 checkpoints used with them have their own licences (SD1.5's CreativeML OpenRAIL-M is covered by earlier items). Failure modes. Citing 'Apache-2.0...

Problem. AnimateDiff motion modules run on top of SD1.5 checkpoints, and users download them from several hosts. Conditions. GitHub guoyww/AnimateDiff commit e92bd567 (pushed 2024-07-31; API reports Apache-2.0); HF guoyww/animatediff revision fdfe36af (modified 2023-12-18). Method. The HF model card is metadata only: 'license: apache-2.0' plus a line saying it hosts models for AnimateDiff. The GitHub README's Disclaimer states 'This project is released for academic use' and disclaims responsibility for user-generated content; the README states the main branch targets Stable Diffusion v1.5 (an sdxl-beta branch targets SDXL). So the repository licence file is Apache-2.0 while prose says academic use: the sources do not reconcile these. Motion modules are also distributed through Google Drive and CivitAI per the README, and personalised SD1.5 checkpoints used with them have their own licences (SD1.5's CreativeML OpenRAIL-M is covered by earlier items). Failure modes. Citing 'Apache-2.0' for any motion module found on CivitAI or fine-tuned by third parties (e.g. manshoety, CiaraRowles variants named in AnimateDiff-Evolved's README, round 2) without reading their own pages. Limitations. Only the original authors' sources read. Not legal advice; a reading of published text for engineering triage. Version and date. Pins as above.

Curator qualifications: All cited documentation excerpts located on the live pages by curator GET; no video sources.

Limitations: Conflict between the Apache metadata and the academic-use prose is unresolved.

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

```json
{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://huggingface.co/guoyww/animatediff/raw/fdfe36afa161e51b3e9c24022b0e368d59e7345e/README.md",
      "note": "front matter; Disclaimer; intro note"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/guoyww/AnimateDiff/e92bd5671ba62c0d774a32951453e328018b7c5b/README.md",
      "note": "front matter; Disclaimer; intro note"
    }
  ]
}
```

Evidence claims:
- [sourced_fact] Problem. AnimateDiff motion modules run on top of SD1.5 checkpoints, and users download them from several hosts. Conditions. GitHub guoyww/AnimateDiff commit e92bd567 (pushed 2024-07-31; API reports Apache-2.0); HF guoyww/animatediff revision fdfe36af (modified 2023-12-18). Method. The HF model card is metadata only: 'license: apache-2.0' plus a line saying it hosts models for AnimateDiff. The GitHub README's Disclaimer states 'This project is released for academic use' and disclaims responsibility for user-generated content; the README states the main branch targets Stable Diffusion v1.5 (an sdxl-beta branch targets SDXL). So the repository licence file is Apache-2.0 while prose says academic use: the sources do not reconcile these. Motion modules are also distributed through Google Drive and CivitAI per the README, and personalised SD1.5 checkpoints used with them have their own licences (SD1.5's CreativeML OpenRAIL-M is covered by earlier items). Failure modes. Citing 'Apache-2.0' for any motion module found on CivitAI or fine-tuned by third parties (e.g. manshoety, CiaraRowles variants named in AnimateDiff-Evolved's README, round 2) without reading their own pages. Limitations. Only the original authors' sources read. Not legal advice; a reading of published text for engineering triage. Version and date. Pins as above. · locator: front matter; Disclaimer; intro note · source: https://huggingface.co/guoyww/animatediff/raw/fdfe36afa161e51b3e9c24022b0e368d59e7345e/README.md

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

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