Question: Highcharts is supposed to be an open source chart project that is free for personal use and for non-profit organisations. For non-profit organisations and individuals it is licensed under the [Creative Commons (CC) Attribution-NonCommercial licence](http://Creative%20Commons%20(CC)%20Attribution-NonCommercial%20licence)

Now I'm in a situation that I am a software developer, developing software for an eligible organisation (non-profit, non-government since highcharts does not consider government organisations to be covered). Now as I understand it, this organisation does not need a licence for Highcharts and if I was an employee of this organisation I could just use highcharts to develop a Highcharts enabled website for them. 

My questions are:

1. Is my previous assumption that if an in-house team develops the organisation's website then a licence is not required correct?
2. If I am not an employee of of that organisation but I am just contracted **as an individual** to create and deliver a Highcharts enabled website for them, do I need to purchase a licence for Highcharts?
3. If I belong to a for-profit company which is contracted to develop a to create and deliver a Highcharts enabled website to a non-profit organisation, is a licence required in that case and if yes, what kind of licence (assuming that Highcharts is not generally going to be used by that company in any other projects or services)?

Answer: 
Firstly, IANAL/IANYL.

That said, [Creative Commons says](https://creativecommons.org/faq/#does-my-use-violate-the-noncommercial-clause-of-the-licenses) that the NC licence prohibits uses that are "*primarily intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or monetary compensation*". They go on to note that

> 
> CC's definition does not turn on the type of user: if you are a nonprofit or charitable organization, your use of an NC-licensed work could still run afoul of the NC restriction, and if you are a for-profit entity, your use of an NC-licensed work does not necessarily mean you have violated the term.
> 
> 
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So the answer to question one seems to me to be that it depends what the non-profit, through its development team, is using the software *for*. If it's serving the non-profit's charitable purpose, then I suspect that is a lawful use under CC BY-NC. If it's fundraising, this is arguably not lawful (*primarily intended for ... monetary compensation*). My church rents its rooms out as a commercial proposition, and that activity would almost certainly not be lawful.

Questions two and three seem easier: your primary purpose in question two, and your company's in question three, are to make money, so the use under CC BY-NC is not lawful and in both cases a commercial license will need to be purchased.

In the end, CC advises that "*you should either contact the rights holder for clarification, or search for works that permit commercial uses*".

This is an excellent illustration of why non-commercial-only licences are not considered free.
No answer seems to have told you this already so let me highlight that Highcharts is *not* open source nor free software! On their website they are very careful not to use these terms. Instead they say that they are "Free for non-commercial" (this means at no cost) and "Open" (which is vague but is basically about trying to benefit from the advantage of open source without fully committing to it). Indeed, they are developed in the open, on GitHub and anyone can contribute.

Next, I wouldn't venture in giving definite answers to your questions because the interpretation of the non-commercial clause might very well vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. So I cannot advise you in any way except to tell you that you should either:

1. Talk to a lawyer.
2. Ask to Highcharts themselves in writing, and hope that they give you a clear answer (this should help you to defend yourself in court if they later change their interpretation).