OK it’s all over Now. I have deleted all my works from Videohive.
From when I joined in 2009 and until the change of leadership and the introduction of Elements it was a great time. And I am grateful to everyone who at that time made the entire Envato community better and better.
But now…
As @EightBallAudio aptly pointed out, not only is Envato offering the most absurd sale agreement where I, as the owner of the copyright property, give my consent to the disposal of my things on terms unknown to me, simply trusting the words of the corporation, but also with the recent adjustment of the agreement for authors from Audiojungle and Themeforest, Envato marked the remaining authors from Videohive and other markets as second-class authors. As they say - I thought that Envato fell to the bottom in his attitude towards the authors, but someone knocked from below.
And that’s not to mention the continued theft of our customers with Elements banners, which I wrote about back in 2018 - Does Envato act against the authors of Envato markets?
Also, in 2017 I wrote about the necessary changes for the Videohive market - Videohive has stopped (Part 1) which do not contradict the evolution of Elements, but all my words were ignored. Although shortly before this, the authors of Audiojungle received new licenses from Envato for their works but authors from Videohive didn’t. Even then it was clear that Envato had a gradation of authors. Today Envato just confirmed it.
Yes, I understand, not all authors can easily leave Envato. For some, this is the main source of income and Envato takes advantage of this by imposing horrific updates of the agreement. But if for some reason you haven’t thought about diversifying of income yet, then it’s high time. Because if you think that Envato will be better for the authors, then I have some sad news for you. Even despite the “step back” that Envato made for the authors of Audiojungle and Themeforest.
@hichameassi @BenLeong I don’t know what kind of lawyers work for you that recommended making such changes to the agreement and notifying the copyright holders simply by email, instead of turning off the portfolio or getting explicit consent from authors, but this violates every conceivable laws. Because there can be a huge number of reasons why one of the authors did not see your notification - wars, diseases, natural disasters, and even just the author has not checked his e-mail for a long time - but this does not give you the right to use the works of these authors in your own way solely discretion by unilaterally changing the terms of the agreement. I, in turn, will help everyone who encounters such a situation in order to receive large compensations from your corporation. And when the court will ask your company for prior disclosure you will not able to say that you didn’t understand or didn’t know something. You knew everything and understood everything.
And yes:
I’m not against Elements. I am against the way you promoted it by stealing buyers from the authors of the main Envato markets.
I’m not against AI. I am against teaching Ai with help of my all works without even knowing how much I will receive remuneration for it.
I am not against new ways of selling my works. I am against the fact that Envato wants to get unlimited rights to my works, which Envato did not create.
Well, that’s it.
Thanks to many the authors from Audiojungle and Videohive. During this time, we have become true friends with many of you!
And a special thanks to @MarkBrodhuber for being the initiator and co-creator of Videohive. I could always write to you in a difficult situation and you always solved it wisely and fairly. Thank you!