Important Change to the WordPress License Takes Effect Today! Please Read.
Last month, I notified you all that, to better preserve the spirit of WordPress, beginning August 4th, WP themes will be sold with two licenses: all WP code will come with a GPL license, which allow for redistribution; the remaining HTML, CSS, JavaScripts, and images, luckily, will still retain our standard license.
Do I Need to Change Anything When Uploading New Items?
Yes. When you upload your “Main” zip file (the folder that contains all of your theme files, images, and help documentation zipped up), you’ll need to create a new directory within the root and call it “Licensing.” Within this folder, include the GPL license – which can be downloaded here.
You will need to do this for EVERY new WordPress template submission. If you fail to do so, the reviewer will soft-reject your item.
What About My Currently Selling Items? Do I Need to Update Them?
No – we’ll take care of that for you!
Licenses
- GPL: All PHP code containing WordPress functionality will be sold with a GPL license. With this license, buyers will be free to modify and/or redistribute the files as they wish.
- Standard License: Don’t worry, authors. To protect your templates, all CSS, JavaScripts, and images will still be bound by our standard license.
Layman’s Terms, Please.
Properly selling WordPress themes can be a bit tricky. According to WordPress policy, all PHP files (with WP code) must be distributed with a GPL license. As you can imagine, this puts us, and our authors, at a disadvantage. How can you profit from your themes if any buyer is within his rights to redistribute your theme as he sees fit?
Luckily, our authors shouldn’t worry. Only the PHP will come with the GPL license. Your images, stylesheets, and JavaScripts will still hold our standard license – which forbids buyers from redistribution.
Cliffnotes Version
- We’re moving to a ThemeForest/GPL license for all new WordPress items starting today.
- All new WP submissions MUST include this license. You can download it, and place it in a “Licensing” folder, within your “Main” zip file, here.
If you have any comments, just leave a comment and let us know! Thanks, everyone.
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Comments
Jeffrey
Hi, I'm Jeff. I'm the editor of Nettuts+, and the Site Manager of Theme Forest. I spend too much time in front of the computer and find myself telling my fiance', "We'll go in 5 minutes!" far too often. I just can't go out to dinner while I'm still producing FireBug errors...drives me crazy. I love jQuery, PHP, MYSQL, CSS, AJAX - pretty much anything.
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It’s good for authors !
Hmm Interesting!
Awesome, WordPress is WordPress (:
I can now see how this would still be beneficial for developers. Keeps me inspired to learn and write php-wp themes for here.
Keep up the awesome work Envato! This is just another example of how awesome and forward thinking you guys are!
Its not a bad thing, because it´s the design that sells, not the code.
But if we talk about PHP, it will be only WordPress PHP.
Any functions that I’ll write from scratch will still be mine and not for resell ?
@barat I don’t know what PHP functions you would write for a WP theme that doesn’t use WP functions…?
@barat: I believe you still own that one. If you have function.php which contain pure php function and php function which interact with wp function, maybe it’s better for you to split that to 2 files. One for pure php function that doesn’t interact with wp function and the other one for php function that interact with wp function.
@Vasili im guessing if he writes functions that get info from db without using the wp database class can be considered his own. But thats just a wild guess
Vasili, of course you can write php that does not use WordPress functions!However whether this code is completly seperated from wp code that’s another issue.
So, and please correct me if I’m wrong, but it is my understanding that if these files are kept in a library of their own then they can and should be licensed under a license that does not allow redistribution!
My question then is, what license would that be?
Good news in my opinion, because this removes a substantial (and controversial) gray area that’s existed for a while. Thanks for the update Jeffrey.
WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time and it’s codebase is all under the GPL licence. This is a good move indeed. Please keep on keeping the Wordpress spirit.
There’s no point of selling my theme through Theme’s Forest if I have to sell it with GPL
Will your Joomla Templates fall into the same catagory as the Wordpress GPL licensing, since it is open-source also? Might want to check on that and Drupal, Magento, and some of the others.
I am still not sure whether this is a good move or not.
So what about those people who spend lots of time crafting their custom php functionality built to interact and integrate with wordpress functions and with the database?
Would buyers be free to literally ripoff the hardly coded framework and do what they want with it?
I can understand how they can choose to make their own php code gpl, but this situation is a disaster for coders relying on their well built framework to be able to craft and sell themes based on it.
It really is is impossible to write php code for wordpress without interacting with wordpress’ functions. More than that, it would probably be wrong in 95% of the occasions.
What do you guys think about this? Is the era of the premium themes reaching its end?
This is good for new developers like myself who want to learn the best ways to create a wordpress theme. I’m fine with it.
It is good to see envato coming into compliance, with the rest of the planet.
First off, sound move on Envato’s end.
Secondly, a thanks to iPad, whom I’m assuming is slightly dyslexic, left-handed, or at the least a different-drum-beat marcher.
I’m now going to use your mirrored smily, as I too am a left-handed somewhat dyslexic marcher to at times a different beat of the durm, err, I mean, drum.
(:
Its a really very good news indeed, you must try it u will like it…
OH,Thank you for this news