YomiToku Usage Guideline (Supplement to CC BY-NC-SA)¶
This guideline provides supplemental clarification for using YomiToku OSS (the “Software”) under the CC BY-NC-SA (Non-Commercial + ShareAlike) license.
This document does not modify the license terms themselves. Its purpose is to clarify the practical boundary between non-commercial and commercial use.
1. Permitted Use as Non-Commercial (NC) — Free of Charge¶
The following use cases are considered Non-Commercial (NC) and do not require a commercial license.
1-1. Internal Proof-of-Concept (PoC), Evaluation, and Technical Verification¶
- Accuracy evaluation using internal datasets
- Algorithm / model comparison
- Technology assessment not intended for production use
- Internal-only demo creation
1-2. Academic Research / Educational Use¶
- Use within universities, laboratories, and educational institutions
- Use for research papers or academic studies
However, if the research outputs are used commercially, a separate commercial agreement is required.
1-3. “Unpaid” PoC with External Clients (Important)¶
Even when external clients are involved, the use is considered Non-Commercial (NC) only if all of the following conditions are satisfied:
- No compensation (e.g., PoC fees, service fees, development fees) is received from the client
- PoC outputs are not used in production
- The client does not gain business value (e.g., revenue increase, productivity improvement, cost reduction)
- Deliverables, code, and outputs are not used commercially
2. Activities Considered Commercial Use (Outside NC Scope)¶
The following use cases are classified as commercial use and require a commercial license or a separate agreement.
2-1. Paid PoC Provided to External Clients¶
- Receiving PoC fees or service fees
- Offering PoC as a paid package
- Conducting PoC as part of a contracted project
→ Regardless of the label “PoC,” any monetary compensation constitutes commercial use.
2-2. Integration into Production Systems or Business Operations¶
- Automating or optimizing internal business workflows
- Integration into RPA or batch-processing pipelines
- Use within long-running internal systems
- Use as part of client-facing products or services
2-3. Resale, OEM, SaaS, and Secondary Distribution¶
- Providing products/services that embed this Software
- Use in SaaS, APIs, or proprietary products
- Incorporating the Software into deliverables provided to clients
- OEM, reseller, or partner distribution models
2-4. Use in Contracted Development or Consulting Services¶
- Use to fulfill client requirements in a contracted project
- Inclusion in deliverables (software, documents, extracted data)
- Use as part of BPO or outsourcing operations
2-5. Internal Use for Business Efficiency or Cost Reduction¶
Internal use does not automatically qualify as non-commercial.
- Large-scale document/PDF processing for operational efficiency
- Use for productivity improvement or cost savings
- Embedding in production workflows within the company
→ Such use directly contributes to business operations and is therefore commercial.
2-6. Commercial Use or Distribution of Output Results¶
Warning
Important: Providing Output Results (Outputs) to Third Parties Is Commercial Use
Providing outputs generated by YomiToku to external parties constitutes commercial use, because it delivers business value created by the Software.
Examples include:
- Providing OCR text to a client
- Including extracted/parsed results in deliverables
- Delivering processed PDFs/CSVs/JSONs to clients
- Using YomiToku outputs as part of SaaS functionality
- Using YomiToku outputs in an RPA pipeline to perform client work
- Providing “documents processed by YomiToku” to any third party
→ If the outputs generate business value, it is commercial use.
3. Practical Criteria for Determining Commercial Use¶
If any of the following conditions apply, the use is highly likely to be commercial:
✔ 3-1. Is monetary compensation involved?¶
→ If yes, commercial.
✔ 3-2. Does the use create business value (revenue or cost reduction)?¶
→ If yes, commercial.
✔ 3-3. Are outputs delivered to external parties?¶
→ Once outputs are provided, it is commercial.
4. When the Guideline Does Not Clarify Your Case¶
If your use case is not clearly covered by this guideline, please contact us for clarification: