Can people modify and sell my codes from my theme on themeforest?

Envato Authors Theme Authors
1

I wanted to know if i created a WordPress theme and anyone could copy the php codes in it and make it their own and then sell it.

Can that possibly happen ?

2

Certainly not on here they cant.Elsewhere if you can prove it is your code then you can submit DCMA. A buyer pays for one license per purchase here that can be used on one site - yes they can charge a client to modify the template for them but that’s it.

P.s someone else can probably give a better explanation that that!

3

Well actually the php codes are mostly codes from WordPress codex documentation that i have studied and written then modified to suit my theme’s purposes. I have also used wp_query in my theme. Nothing like special coding.

Now i hope you have got a much clearer view of my theme coding.

So can they(the buyers) change my codes and make it their own in their themes? Because i read on themeforest in an article that buyers could buy a theme and use the php codes in it in their own themes (IF AND ONLY IF) they modified it.

I apologise if i am not that clear but i am a newbie on themeforest. i know how to create WP themes. So i decided to invest my time in WP themes that i could sell.

Could you please educate me on what rights (at least brief) do buyers have over a theme once they buy it and under what type of licenses could i sell my theme but reserve the rights over the php files, javascript and other files that i sell with my themes(of course users can modify it but only for their own client NOT for reselling them later).

Thanks for your time and response.

4
MMKtf said

I wanted to know if i created a WordPress theme and anyone could copy the php codes in it and make it their own and then sell it.

Can that possibly happen ?

Yes, they can absolutely take it and sell it. All WordPress theme PHP code on TF is licensed under the GPL. By selling a theme here, you are explicitly granting the rights for people who receive your code to copy, modify, and distribute the code for free or a price. The only restriction they have is that they must also follow the license.

  • You should read the license for yourself: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html
  • ThemeForest knowledgebase article for reference as well: http://support.envato.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/428
5

Thank you very much greenshady. This is the confusion i had . I have a another question to ask.

1)Can i inspect the “FREE FILES” released each month for codes they are using in the theme ?

6

Can you tell us more specific about your code? Do you create by yourself or create base from Codex?

7

Part of my codes are based from the codex of WordPress and part from other sites i came across while trying to know how to use WP_queries. i tried the codex code of WP but it didn’t work as i wanted then i tried codes from other sites which worked.

8

Am i misunderstanding or does that suggest that the code you are talking about is Codex, from other sites etc and there either not your to be using or patent or it is open source?

In which case yes they would be able to use the code as it is not someone’s to protect