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> If I create a fork of a public repo on GH, I require a license to distribute it because a public repo can be forked or downloaded by anyone

Why?

The users that clone or fork your fork of the original repository are covered by the original repository's "license" GitHub grants itself, not yours.

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Because if I didn't have a license then that would mean I would be liable for infringement every time someone downloaded it from GH. That's exactly why GH has the TOS that it has - so that nobody can be sued for just using GH when a rights holder uploads their own work to a public GH repo.

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