# Is SNOMED licensing actually holding back its own adoption and the development of good interfaces? **URL:** \ **Category:** General\ **Tags:** discussion\ **Created:** [April 15, 2026, 1:10pm UTC](https://forums.snomed.org/t/is-snomed-licensing-actually-holding-back-its-own-adoption-and-the-development-of-good-interfaces/1180 "2026-04-15T13:10:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 5
**Author:** ![pacharanero](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex014/user_avatar/forums.snomed.org/pacharanero/32/423_2.png) [@pacharanero](https://forums.snomed.org/u/pacharanero)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 8:55pm UTC](https://forums.snomed.org/t/is-snomed-licensing-actually-holding-back-its-own-adoption-and-the-development-of-good-interfaces/1180/5 "2026-04-17T20:55:13Z")
> [@alastairk](#): > > In a perfect world the SNOMED International Edition and its national extensions would be released as free global public goods under a Creative Commons licence. Yep, this is exactly what I would hope for. The work that’s been done to release IPS under CC4.0 is excellent and I think bodes well for the future. Obtaining these free sets though still requires registering via the website and because of this step it’s not completely clear if it’s OK to ‘redistribute’ them (eg in my [`sct`](https://forums.snomed.org/t/sct-a-fast-free-set-of-local-snomed-ct-tools/1129/4) package on GitHub). I have asked the question and am awaiting the response. It is not allowed to “remix, transform, or build upon” without approval from SNOMED Int’l, but it doesn’t say how one gets this approval. In the CC license detail it is clear: “Merely changing the format never creates a derivative” - but I still don’t feel quite confident that it would be OK. --- _[View the full topic](https://forums.snomed.org/t/is-snomed-licensing-actually-holding-back-its-own-adoption-and-the-development-of-good-interfaces/1180)._