Improve license naming: stable-diffusion-2022-08-22 should include "CreativeML Open RAIL-M 2022-08-22"

[karthiknew07]

License Name
CreativeML OpenRAIL-M License

License Homepage URL
https://huggingface.co/spaces/CompVis/stable-diffusion-license

License Text URL
https://github.com/CompVis/stable-diffusion/blob/main/LICENSE

Alternative License Text URL
https://huggingface.co/spaces/CompVis/stable-diffusion-license/raw/main/license.txt

License Notes
This is the CreativeML OpenRAIL-M license used by Stable Diffusion and thousands of derivative AI image generation models. It's one of the most widely-adopted AI model licenses.

Key Features:

• Part of the OpenRAIL (Open & Responsible AI License) family
• Permissive for most uses with ethical restrictions
• Prohibits harmful applications (misinformation, harassment, etc.)
• Copyleft-style: derivatives must maintain the same restrictions
• Dated August 22, 2022

Significance:

• Used by Stable Diffusion v1 (one of the most viral AI tools of 2024-2025)
• 30,000+ models on Hugging Face use this license (as of November 2025)
• More than 100,000+ developers affected
• Used by derivative projects: Dreamlike, SDXL variants, and countless fine-tuned models
• Critical for AI compliance and license scanning

Impact:
According to Hugging Face statistics, this is one of the top 5 most-used AI model licenses, with usage comparable to MIT and Apache 2.0 licenses in the AI space.

Related Licenses Already in ScanCode:

• stable-diffusion-2022-08-22 - This is a different/later version
• bigscience-openrail-m - Similar RAIL license for language models
• bigcode-open-rail-m-v1 - RAIL license for code models
• openrail++ - Updated version of OpenRAIL

Why This Matters:
ScanCode currently has stable-diffusion-2022-08-22 but NOT the original creativeml-openrail-m identifier. Many projects specifically reference "CreativeML OpenRAIL-M" in their license files, and having this distinct entry would improve detection accuracy.

Projects Using This License:

• Stable Diffusion v1.4, v1.5
• DreamBooth models
• ControlNet
• Thousands of Hugging Face models
• Civitai models
• Countless commercial and research projects

Additional Context:

• License is managed by the RAIL Initiative
• Co-authors: Robin Rombach, Patrick Esser, and contributors
• Part of a broader trend in "responsible AI" licensing
• Blog post: https://huggingface.co/blog/open_rail

[DennisClark]

@karthiknew07 thanks for the detailed license notes. analysis-in-progress.

[DennisClark]

@karthiknew07 The license at https://scancode-licensedb.aboutcode.org/stable-diffusion-2022-08-22.html has exactly the same text as the license you are requesting. It seems that the only issue is the way it is named. 3 years ago it was hard to determine if the license text was intended for any Stable Diffusion project or simply something called "Creative ML open RAIL-M" or any project that cared to use the license, hence our decision to use an organization name for the license. The original license authors did not see fit to provide a version number with the title "CreativeML Open RAIL-M", nor did they provide the useful word "License" after that label. Given your remarks, perhaps "CreativeML Open RAIL-M 2022-08-22" would be a better name/short name in ScanCode. Please be aware that we do not like to change the key of a license once it is defined in ScanCode, but we could change the Name and Short Name if that would address your concerns.

[karthiknew07]

Thank you so much for the clarification! You're absolutely right - the license text is identical, and this is purely a naming/discoverability issue.

I agree with your suggestion: Renaming it to "CreativeML Open RAIL-M 2022-08-22" would be perfect! Here's why:

1. Official Recognition: "CreativeML Open RAIL-M" is how the license authors themselves refer to it (see https://huggingface.co/blog/open_rail)

2. Improved Detection: On Hugging Face alone, 30,000+ models use the tag "creativeml-openrail-m" - having this name in ScanCode would improve detection when scanning model repositories

3. Searchability: Developers searching for "CreativeML" or "OpenRAIL-M" would find it more easily

4. Consistency with Related Licenses: ScanCode already has similar RAIL licenses like:

   • bigscience-openrail-m (BigScience OpenRAIL-M)
   • bigcode-open-rail-m-v1 (BigCode OpenRAIL-M v1)
   • Following the same naming pattern makes sense

My suggestion:

• Keep the key: stable-diffusion-2022-08-22 (as you mentioned, keys shouldn't change)
• Update Name to: "CreativeML Open RAIL-M 2022-08-22"
• Update Short Name to: "CreativeML OpenRAIL-M 2022-08-22"
• Perhaps add aliases: "Stable Diffusion License", "CreativeML Open RAIL-M" (for alternate search terms)

This way:

• ✅ The key remains stable for existing users
• ✅ The official name is recognized
• ✅ Detection improves for Hugging Face models
• ✅ Consistency with other RAIL licenses

Thank you for considering this, and I really appreciate how ScanCode handles license management! This is exactly the kind of detail that makes license scanning more accurate.

Would you like me to open a separate issue for any other RAIL license variants that might need similar updates?

[DennisClark]

Existing license LicenseRef-scancode-stable-diffusion-2022-08-22 updated in DejaCode enterprise and public as follows:

• changed name and short name to "CreativeML Open RAIL-M 2022-08-22"
• updated the faq_url field with the value https://huggingface.co/blog/open_rail
• updated the keywords value to "Stable Diffusion License"

@AyanSinhaMahapatra please synchronize when you have time, thanks.

[saransh-2504]

since this issue is assigned 3 weeks but there is no update on this so should i take this and work on ? @DennisClark