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Yes. SCP Foundation content is copyrighted, but the SCP Wiki states that its content is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0). That license permits broad reuse, including commercial reuse, provided you follow its conditions. It does not automatically cover every image or other media asset associated with an article.
What the SCP Wiki’s license means
The SCP Wiki’s Licensing Guide and About page identify CC BY-SA 3.0 as the license for its content. The About page specifies the Unported version. This is a copyright license, not a declaration that the writing is free of copyright: copyright holders grant permission to reuse their work under stated terms.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
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| 1 |
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SCP Foundation - Foundation Handbook - Volume I | $22.34 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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SCP Foundation - Foundation Handbook - Volume II | $22.31 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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Scp Foundation Artbook Red Journal | $27.42 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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SCP Foundation Artbook | Paperback Edition | Black Journal | $24.45 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
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Scp Foundation Art Book Yellow Journal | $37.20 | Buy on Amazon |
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In practical terms, the license allows copying and adaptation, including commercial use. The key requirements for a derivative are attribution and share-alike: credit the source appropriately and release your adaptation under CC BY-SA 3.0. The guide puts it plainly: “You can sell the remixes you make based on the SCP Foundation.” That permission is conditional, not exclusive.
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For an adaptation based on a particular article, the Licensing Guide advises identifying the work and its author, linking to the source article, and identifying the SCP Wiki as the source community. Follow the author’s preferred name where given; if the wiki’s attribution records identify no author, the guide says to use “author unknown.”
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- Name the specific article or work you used.
- Credit its author or state “author unknown” when applicable.
- Link to the original article and identify the SCP Wiki.
- State that your adaptation is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
For general setting concepts rather than a particular article, the guide says wiki-level attribution is appropriate. Do not imply that your adaptation is exclusive or that other people cannot reuse it under the applicable license.
Share-alike: what happens to your adaptation
Attribution alone is not enough under the Wiki’s stated requirements. If you create and distribute a derivative of an SCP work, the guide says to release that derivative under CC BY-SA 3.0. This allows others to reuse and sell compliant adaptations under the same license terms. If you need exclusive control over a derivative, that conflicts with the share-alike model described by the guide.
Can you use SCP content commercially?
Generally, yes: the Licensing Guide says commercial derivatives can be sold when the license conditions are met. Commercial use is not, by itself, prohibited by CC BY-SA 3.0. You still need to provide attribution, apply share-alike to your derivative, and make sure every non-text asset you use is cleared for that use.
For games, the guide specifically recommends independent legal counsel because licensing a game can be complex. For a concrete licensing dispute or an asset-specific question, contact the SCP Wiki’s Licensing Team; the guide says licensing staff handle offsite licensing issues and advises non-staff not to take those issues into their own hands.
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Check images and other media separately
An article’s text and its embedded artwork can have different rights status. The Wiki’s Image Use Policy says media licenses must be compatible with the site’s terms; it does not accept restrictions such as NonCommercial (NC) or NoDerivatives (ND) for material used on the Wiki. Do not assume that an image, photograph, logo, or other asset is covered by the text license simply because it appears on an SCP page.
- Check the license and rights holder for every image, photograph, logo, and other media asset you plan to reproduce.
- Confirm that its terms permit your intended use, including commercial use if relevant.
- If you cannot establish the asset’s terms, leave it out or obtain separate permission.
The former SCP-173 image is a specific exception
The Wiki’s Licensing Guide distinguishes SCP-173’s text from the former image associated with it. The image was based on Izumi Kato’s sculpture Untitled 2004; the guide says that likeness is not licensed under CC BY-SA and must not be used commercially. The SCP-173 text remains under CC BY-SA 3.0. If you need imagery for a project, use a separately cleared asset and verify its license rather than treating the former image as covered by the text’s license.
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- The book is released under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license.
When the published policy is not enough
The Wiki’s guidance describes its published policy; it does not establish the rights status of every contributor’s work, every outside media asset, trademarks, or legal questions in every jurisdiction. The Wiki’s FAQ and Licensing Guide provide the community’s stated guidance, but an individual project may raise issues beyond that policy. Verify the specific work and assets you plan to use, and seek qualified legal advice for a complex commercial product or dispute. The Wiki’s Licensing Team is the appropriate contact for licensing questions about offsite use.
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