Great Points Olexandr.
I advise everyone to download/ screen shot, Copy paste and date every response Envato has given here in this “town hall” thread regarding the Autor / Seller Terms. Additionally, copy and paste and date the emails, and of course everyone should download the official Seller Terms of Service, which are sketchy and confusing at best, and frankly, hard to find.
It is so unprofessional to be drafting legal documents on a public town hall forum like this below, but again, everyone please make copies of these writings with the dates these responses came back. If Envato ingests our music intellectual property to train AI learning models, they will be in breach of their contract. Envato needs to realize that there are dozens if not hundreds of attorneys following this thread with a very keen interest. We ask that you please email all of us by Monday an official revised terms of agreement incorporating this below:
You still haven’t changed the T&Cs. Until those change, can’t Envato just say whatever it wants in emails or on the forums?
The formal email communication recently sent from Envato to our Authors was shared in order to address and clarify the arrangements covered by the updates to our T&Cs. This should be considered as incorporated into the T&Cs by reference, and we hold ourselves to the position set out in the email. For example, in the case of Audio content:
there are no immediate plans to use audio items in third party arrangements (or generative AI); and
if we start using audio items for these purposes, we will provide you with reasonable notice and an opt-out opportunity before we commence the first arrangement.
Following this:
For clarification, do you have plans to use audio items in NON third party (i.e. Envato) arrangements including/or as part of Generative AI services?
There are no immediate plans to use audio as part of Generative AI services at all, either third party or in-house.
For Audio, Code and Web items:
Will this opt-out option apply to each arrangement moving forward? Or is it just a blanket ‘yes or no’ to all future arrangements?
As detailed in our email to you, if we start working on third-party licensing arrangements for Audio, Code or Web items, we will provide a one-off notice and opt-out process that will remove your items from all future arrangements.
And the most frequently asked question from this week:
Why aren’t we providing opt-out for Video, Photos or Graphics?
New technologies will bring transformative changes to many aspects of the stock industry over time. In the case of visual content like photos, stock videos, and design, those changes are already being felt today in varying degrees. Likewise, the licensing models and commercial arrangements in these areas are typically optimised for partnerships and wider distribution of content to maximise revenue.
On that basis, we need the ability to innovate with our visual content in order for the business to succeed in those rapidly evolving content areas, and we want to use the scale of our library to secure meaningful distribution opportunities and revenue streams for authors of these content types. We may consider providing an opt-out option in the future, but as of now, continuing to sell photos, videos and graphics through Envato after the new terms come into effect on June 1 means that you are agreeing to let us explore new revenue opportunities for you.
