Glossary
commercial delivery terms-NC 4.0
commercial delivery terms-NC 4.0 permits reuse with attribution but bars commercial advantage - the licence Global Fishing Watch puts on its AIS-derived APIs and BigQuery tables, paired with mandatory "Powered by Global Fishing Watch" attribution and rate limits of 50,000 requests/day and 1,500,000/month per user.
What is commercial delivery terms-NC 4.0?
The NC element converts an open licence into a research-only grant. The cataloged Global Fishing Watch record states its services are licensed "for noncommercial use only in accordance with the commercial delivery terms-NC 4.0 license", applying to AIS-derived vessel-tracking APIs and BigQuery tables alike.
Two extra conditions ride along. Attribution rules require displaying "Powered by Global Fishing Watch" linked to globalfishingwatch.org - a visible branding duty, not a footnote. And usage is metered: "Rate limits: 50,000 requests/day and 1,500,000/month per user" accompany the licence, so volume itself is contractual, independent of any commercial question.
Why does commercial delivery terms-NC 4.0 matter when choosing a dataset?
Commercial ambiguity is the operating risk. A fisheries analytics startup, an insurer pricing fleet risk, or an ESG fund screening suppliers may all struggle to prove their use is non-commercial - and NC terms put the burden of interpretation on the licensee. Teams should decide the question before integrating, not after a product ships.
The metering has teeth too. At 50,000 requests per day, a backfill job across global AIS history exhausts the daily allowance quickly, so architecture must batch aggressively or move to table-based access. Because the attribution link is mandatory and visible, embedding contexts - reports, dashboards, apps - need UI planning, not just legal sign-off.
How do you evaluate commercial delivery terms-NC 4.0 in a data source?
- Classify your use before integrating. GFW licenses services "for noncommercial use only" - document why your project qualifies under commercial delivery terms-NC 4.0.
- Implement the visible attribution. Displaying "Powered by Global Fishing Watch" linked to globalfishingwatch.org is mandatory in the cataloged terms.
- Design to the request caps. 50,000 requests/day and 1,500,000/month per user bound any crawl; prefer BigQuery-table access for volume.
- Plan commercial paths separately. If monetisation is possible, negotiate with the publisher rather than stretching an NC interpretation.
Where to see it in context: credit-based-api-metering, marine-transportation data.
Related terms
Related entries:
- credit-based-api-metering frames the quota side of GFW access.
- nlod is a contrasting open-licence regime for marine data.
- marine-transportation data is the industry slice where AIS-derived sources sit.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use commercial delivery terms-NC 4.0 data commercially?
No - the licence permits reuse with attribution but bars commercial advantage; Global Fishing Watch states its services are "for noncommercial use only".
What attribution does Global Fishing Watch require?
Displaying "Powered by Global Fishing Watch" as a link to globalfishingwatch.org - a visible branding duty the cataloged attribution rules require alongside commercial delivery terms-NC 4.0.
What are the rate limits?
50,000 requests per day and 1,500,000 per month per user accompany the licence on GFW's AIS-derived APIs.
Datasets containing this field
Datasets containing commercial delivery terms-NC 4.0
6 datasets carry commercial delivery terms-nc 4.0 in the catalog. Open one, count the fields, judge for yourself.
AISStream.io Live AIS WebSocket API
BarentsWatch Open AIS API (Norwegian Coastal Administration)
Data.gov Maritime Collection
EMODnet Vessel Density Maps (EU Waters)
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