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Just to be clear, this article is about why a wordpress theme maker is not allowed to participate at a wordpress conference because they are (through a proxy si

by Cogito 14y ago

Just to be clear, this article is about why a wordpress theme maker is not allowed to participate at a wordpress conference because they are (through a proxy site ThemeForest) selling their themes with licensing that wordpress doesn't like. The main issue for the author is that they do not have control over the license used when selling on ThemeForest, and not selling on ThemeForest is not a viable option for them as sales through that platform account for most of their monthly income. The author states: """The only license available to authors on ThemeForest is a split license[0]. The PHP in our themes is covered under the GPL, but the images, CSS, and JavaScript are not. There’s nothing wrong with this, and I also have no problem with this; But it doesn’t meet those guidelines for WordCamps that I mentioned earlier.""" So users of the THemeForest platform are unable to license their themes in any way they wish, but must split license their themes. Wordpress has a problem with this, hence the hard line being drawn. Not sure what the resolution might be, but I think ThemeForest should allow fully GPL themes if authors so desire. Maybe there are implications to this I am not aware of? [0] http://support.envato.com/index.php?/Live/Knowledgebase/Article/View/428/0/split-licensing-and-the-gpl---what-does-it-all-mean http://support.envato.com/index.php?/Live/Knowledgebase/Arti...

ars 14y ago
The author can post a notice on his website: "Despite what it says on ThemeForest" all the files in my themes are actually GPL." Or just the simple notice: "All files in theme xxxx are licensed under the GPL." Don't themes come with a readme? Just put the GPL notification in there. Why do you have to pick your license using a ThemeForest tool?
- mwill 14y ago
  There's an explanation transcribed in the post from a podcast: So the idea behind the split license is to protect authors in terms of their designs and things like that. The parts that have to be GPL are GPL, the parts that don’t have to be, we’re happy to provide that license to help you protect them. The other thing is that on the [Envato] marketplaces there are smaller component style items, so you could buy the extended license on the marketplace, and use that in your WordPress theme. And if you then make your WordPress theme 100% GPL, you just disregarded the license of the item you put into the theme. So it seems like they specifically discourage bypassing the split license.
  - ars 14y ago
    > So it seems like they specifically discourage bypassing the split license. Who asked them? The author of the theme can do whatever he wants, ThemeForest doesn't get a say in the matter.
    - noodle 14y ago
      Have you ever submitted a theme to ThemeForest? They require you to place the two licenses in your submission and will reject your submission if they're missing or altered. Author certainly can do whatever they want; Themeforest will just reject the submission until the author does what they want.
      - ars 14y ago
        No, I have never submitted anything there. But it makes little difference: You can say whatever you want on your website, and give any license you like. They have no say in the matter - they aren't getting an exclusive license after all. The author is free to provide a second license to anyone they like.
        noodle 14y ago
        That is true, sort of. If you don't sell exclusively on Themeforest, the payout rate is approximately half what it would be otherwise. Its a very similar rock-and-hard-place situation that this article is about. You're throwing away significant revenue by selling on your own site and generally not accepting their license agreement because they are the king in the market.
        ars 14y ago
        I didn't realize they had an exclusivity clause. If that's the case then, yah, the author is kinda stuck.
        noodle 14y ago
harlanlewis 14y ago
It sounds like ThemeForest needs to host its own conferences.
- eksith 14y ago
  Sounds a bit like this : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5tZMDBXTRQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5tZMDBXTRQ An ideal situation would be if the WP folks decided it's not worth it to fragment the community and let the theme folks participate. Participation doesn't kill innovation even if you disagree politically (except in congress).

by Cogito 14y ago

ars 14y ago

The author can post a notice on his website: "Despite what it says on ThemeForest" all the files in my themes are actually GPL." Or just the simple notice: "All files in theme xxxx are licensed under the GPL." Don't themes come with a readme? Just put the GPL notification in there. Why do you have to pick your license using a ThemeForest tool?

mwill 14y ago
There's an explanation transcribed in the post from a podcast: So the idea behind the split license is to protect authors in terms of their designs and things like that. The parts that have to be GPL are GPL, the parts that don’t have to be, we’re happy to provide that license to help you protect them. The other thing is that on the [Envato] marketplaces there are smaller component style items, so you could buy the extended license on the marketplace, and use that in your WordPress theme. And if you then make your WordPress theme 100% GPL, you just disregarded the license of the item you put into the theme. So it seems like they specifically discourage bypassing the split license.
- ars 14y ago
  > So it seems like they specifically discourage bypassing the split license. Who asked them? The author of the theme can do whatever he wants, ThemeForest doesn't get a say in the matter.
  - noodle 14y ago
    Have you ever submitted a theme to ThemeForest? They require you to place the two licenses in your submission and will reject your submission if they're missing or altered. Author certainly can do whatever they want; Themeforest will just reject the submission until the author does what they want.
    - ars 14y ago
      No, I have never submitted anything there. But it makes little difference: You can say whatever you want on your website, and give any license you like. They have no say in the matter - they aren't getting an exclusive license after all. The author is free to provide a second license to anyone they like.
      - noodle 14y ago
        That is true, sort of. If you don't sell exclusively on Themeforest, the payout rate is approximately half what it would be otherwise. Its a very similar rock-and-hard-place situation that this article is about. You're throwing away significant revenue by selling on your own site and generally not accepting their license agreement because they are the king in the market.
        ars 14y ago
        I didn't realize they had an exclusivity clause. If that's the case then, yah, the author is kinda stuck.
        noodle 14y ago

harlanlewis 14y ago

It sounds like ThemeForest needs to host its own conferences.

eksith 14y ago
Sounds a bit like this : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5tZMDBXTRQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5tZMDBXTRQ An ideal situation would be if the WP folks decided it's not worth it to fragment the community and let the theme folks participate. Participation doesn't kill innovation even if you disagree politically (except in congress).