how to know i have a legal wordpress theme

A few days ago I received a wordpress design from a freelancer
I made the payment and received the wordpress . He says it is legal copy
but inside the wordpress I do not see any license information.
I am hesitating in launching the website because I am concerned about the license.

How to know for sure?
Do I need to ask from envato ? Is there any signs I need to look at myself?

Hi

you can check in your wordpress wp-admin if the theme is activated using the purchsse code then the theme is legal copy. Also you can ask the freelancer for the theme purchase code, purchase code is unique and enavto provide purchase code for each purchase.

Thanks

Thank you for your reply please see this screenshot

https://prnt.sc/pi08wv

I do not see the license link in there.
This is what freelancer says

The writing in blue is my question

I have already paid to him and it was after I paid I received the wordpress I noticed there is not license link in there

https://prnt.sc/pi0buq

Are you able to show the finished site that they built for you?

Comments like “samples of code from the layout they created” sounds a bit odd and you would be important to understand what that layout they created was especially as design media don’t look like a stock author and more like an agency.

Where did the conversation about designmedia.com come from?

That’s not to say it’s not all legit but it’s certainly incredibly vague.

  • Where did you find this developer?

  • what makes you think it may not be legit?

  • For how long will they update the website?

  • Are you expected to pay a retainer?

  • What constitutes a “major WP update”?

  • What about minor amends?

  • What about if it’s just a plugin that needs updating?

  • is the theme/website registered in your info? (Important one if ever you had copyright issues and if you are passing data through the site)

simply if your freelnacer don’t have purchase code for the theme are using in your website then may be he didn’t purchased the theme from envato. Please contact with freelancer about this. Always best practice to purchase theme from customer own account so that they can activate theme for future update and can get first 6 month free theme author support. Also only original theme purchaser account will be able to download future update of the theme from envato market. Thanks

Well I found this freelancer from (removed by mod) , I had too many troubles with him so I just stopped in middle of project paid for the half finished site. As we are a company copy right is extremely important for us. The guy thinks we are too much concerned but this is common sense . I just went on and purchased a legal wordpress theme any way but I want to make sure I can use that wordpress as well at least in other domain .
I have put httaccess with ip restriction. I won’t be able to post here but will send the url in private message if you want. I already sent an email to help (AT) market.envato.com

Unfortunately envato won’t get involved in a third party agreement, but given you had issues and the nonchalant attitude I’d be cautious.

As a company I’d usually suggest going to an agency - no disrespect to envato authors or their themes - there is just more recourse that way.

FYI if YOU NOT A FREELANCER buys a theme from envato and have that modified, then you should be fine.

He says it is legal and every thing gets updated automatically and that he can not share his license information with me he says he has also used his code. so probably he is right
inside the wordpress there is no license information . however is there any way I can send the whole site to envato for inspection?

Envato wouldn’t be able to check this (they don’t own the items for sale)

Assuming that the theme that it is built on is from envato (other marketplaces may irk differently) then:

  1. each license allows ONE single use on ONE website so if they have used it elsewhere then this is 100% not legit.

  2. also them handing over the license code to you is exactly the process when a freelancer buys the theme for you, so again, with respect that’s nonsense.

  3. if it updates automatically (and is from envato) then it would need the code to link up and if it is half custom code from him then an auto theme update could create all sorts of issues.

We’re not trying to be negative - just help avoid problems

So why he says he can not share the license ? Do you mean there is no such a thing as freelancer has some rights having his own code or some license that he uses for different people? If he has purchased this license can he make an arrangement so this particular license is assigned to an account so he can give me my own unique account?

It depends where he got the license from eg is it using a theme from envato or is it using a theme from another marketplace or custom code

Different marketplaces offer different licenses but assuming it is using an envato one then this can only be used by one website per license/purchase and there is zero reason for them to not share that with you.

If it’s from an entirely different marketplace or using custom written code then that is of course potentially very different, but we’re assuming that this thread is posted here because it involves an item from envato??

That is my question how to know that ? He does not talk with me any more . :slight_smile:

Also see this

https://prnt.sc/pi20dx

the license button is not there . It could be hidden in there does any body know where to look for it inside the files in my cpanel?

It’s possible that someone could identify the theme from sight or the code.

You could try https://codeable.io/find-out-what-theme-plugins-wordpress/ and see what it says the theme is called? This would be really interesting to hear.

Envato won’t be able to tell you this unfortunately.

It just all sounds like a lot of vague and non-committing answers.

It should be very very simple for them to share a link to the general license info from the marketplace even without giving you any personal info

I know exactly the theme name that is not the problem , He says it is a combination of his code too and other stupid nonsense

Have you searched the theme and seen where it’s for sale?

If it’s an envato one then that answers a lot of questions about the license and you could then ask the author to check it to see if it’s legit or has custom code in it?

the theme name is Hostiko when I asked him where he got the them he says it is custom made

As @charlie4282 mentioned envato will not invlove any third party site. Now about your theme:

  1. You or your freelancer can add custom code to customize the theme for your requirements. So, custom code not a issue.
  2. If you know or your freelancer told you that the theme has purcjased from envato then you can ask your freelancer for purchase code because for each purchase envato provide unique purchase code for license and each purchase code is valid for only a single end product.
  3. In case of other marketplace or custom made theme we will not be able to tell about the license.

If this is your theme from envato then must have a purchase code if they really purchased for using in your website:

Then he’s chatting nonsense

This author ONLY sells on envato so this means there is absolutely NO reason at all not to share the license code with you (assuming they are being legit)

The author of that theme @designingmedia are very reputable and highly regarded on envato so I am sure that they could possibly help, but again:

  1. giving you the code is the right way to operate if a freelancer uses a theme from here

  2. I guarantee that if there is actually custom code used then auto theme updates could easily create problems

  3. It’s probably worth mentioning that without that license code you don’t own anything. No license gives you copyright, but the right to use a copy of the theme will still be owned by the purchasing account (the freelancer).