minimax h3 is free to download, but not for the eu, uk or us
minimax's h3 video model has open weights, but its licence excludes users in the eu, uk, us and south korea unless they apply.
the model
minimax h3 is a video generation model with downloadable weights. other tools are already built on it, pika's h3 flex is a post-trained version.
the licence
the weights come under minimax's own community licence, not a standard open-source one.
that licence excludes the eu, the uk, the us and south korea. users there have to use minimax's api or apply for a reviewed licence.
everywhere else, the weights are royalty-free under the licence terms.
what's actually open
only the base model is free to download. per minimax's material, the full pipeline includes other parts that stay behind its own service.
why it matters for a creator business
"open weights" doesn't mean "free for anyone to use anywhere".
if your business is in one of the excluded regions and you run h3 locally, you're outside the licence. that's a legal and platform risk, not just a technicality.
the short version
- h3's weights are free to download and royalty-free under minimax's own licence
- the licence excludes the eu, uk, us and south korea for now
- users there can use the api or apply for a reviewed licence
- big businesses above a revenue threshold need separate permission too, per minimax's faq
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