Licensing when only linking to resources as dependencies

I would tend to do the same. When I created one of my models the hair was linked to a character with an ND license so I asked for permission to use it making the model covered under the same ND license. I also noted to everyone that if anyone wanted to use the model freely just change the hair.
Honestly, I thought I had an answer for this but now I'm sitting here like🤔
 
Unless you have repacked all or part of those dependencies, it's not necessary to license your resource with the same license as your dependencies.

The nature of NC (non-commercial) licensed content is such that NC content cannot be used in any kind of marketing, including screenshots, video, advertisements, etc. Since including an NC dependency in a PC resource is a form of advertising (for example: making your Paid resource more enticing by adding some really nice looking NC clothing), resources with NC dependencies cannot be used in Paid content without permission from the original creator.

This is not quite the same as building a resource using NC content in the custom folder. Packing NC content in your custom folder and then giving your resource a less restrictive license is called "License Laundering" and is a copyright violation.

To summarize:

If you have dependencies that are referenced but not included, you can license your resource however you wish. If anyone else uses your resource as a dependency and they directly include some NC dependencies from your content in their new scene, those NC dependencies will become their dependencies and the Hub will scan and report which items are being used and whether or not it is permitted to sell the content in the Paid category.

If instead you include content directly in your var, for example in the custom folder, then you must respect the most restrictive license in that content and license your resource the same, otherwise you are guilty of laundering the licenses.
 
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