I too was wondering about how this all will work with Content ID systems…
I’m not going anywhere, I won’t give up on my 11 years of efforts and dedication here but we all need some extra info and clarification especially on the legal possible side effects. This is a new thing, so it’s normal that it’s not clear how it works and what are the possible future issues.
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Also why such a drastic change need to be mandatory? Why can’t we have the option to participate with projects we choose instead of our whole portfolio?
Videohive elements authors have such option so the mechanism is already available.
If this is presented as a positive decision then I am guessing many authors would choose to participate.
Also why such a short notice for such a drastic change?
What I like in Marketplace is the transparency and the fact that I know exactly what every sale will bring in my account.
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Very true. But, it’s already raising legal concerns. Soon the legal system will adapt to this new paradigm, and lawsuits and class actions will follow.
By making you agree to have your work used to train AI, Envato is thinking ahead, and free themselves from the legal headaches… and from authors’ rights.
Frankly this new agreement is shady and clearly abusive. Finding it unacceptable is in no way over reacting, but quite justified.
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Also what about “exclusivity agreement”?
So, when I decided to sell my own items thought one more platform I must pay an extra fees to Envato for being Non-Exclusive.
And when Envato decide to sell my items to any third party, does it not count as non-exclusive?
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100% True. Moreover, everything has already been agreed with the legal department and it was the lawyers who gave recommendations on making changes (I’m not an Envato employee, it’s just how all large companies work). And all this suggests that all decisions have already been calculated and made.
Also note their example - “Distributing your items on content platforms across the globe”. Envato Market and Envato Elements are legally different companies (note the payments you receive from Envato Market and Envato Elements, there are different company names). Thus, according to the new clause of the agreement, Envato Market can conclude a contract with a “third party” - Envato Elements as a global content platform and take any work from the Market to publish them in Elements. You did not want to publish your work on Elements or anywhere else with conditions unknown to you? Well, now you agree to almost all the conditions without any questions - you will simply be put before the fact.
To be honest, I have never seen such an audacious and brazen change in the agreement between the parties, in which one of the parties receives almost unlimited powers. I am saddened by the very fact that in the Envato leadership they consider me as a very stupid as author if they decided to slip such conditions without specifics and details.
However, as Marissa already wrote, I’m also grateful to Envato but for all the years before the Elements came along. It was a wonderful time.
Envato does what brings more profit for them - that’s their right. My right to remove all my work from Videohive and publish it in other markets, which are now quite numerous and have good conditions.
I wish all authors Inspiration and Successes!
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Surely the best option here is to include an option, as in Pond5, to not include your items in these datasets? Even if by default it is on, at least giving the option to turn it off would be better than nothing, and still give Envato a sizeable chunk of items to use how they want from authors that don’t mind.
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Clearly this looks like an important issue which is affecting people (authors) and causing some concerns. @KingDog has pointed out there may be many questions that need answering, and this will allow for clarification on the actual proposed changes. But I agree this sounds not great.
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So sit tight and wait while Envato formulate a response that says, and means, nothing. All while the 20 day clock runs out. If you don’t want your stuff absorbed by AI, pull it. If you pull it on day 21, it doesn’t matter. Your art isn’t yours.
My guess is these arrangements are in place, or are about to be, and in 20 days your stuff is getting ingested.
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The case could go to the Supreme Courts of all countries where the courts decide that no AI works can ever be used because permission was never granted by human authors where the “derivatives” where used in violation of copyrights.
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And that’s what I mentioned above. This is forced move - not an abstract idea of Envato. ;]
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I disagree, squeezing authors and do away with their rights is not forced on Envato. It’s a deliberate choice. They had plenty of other options.
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Allowing existing music to “Train AI Models” (to create music compositions from human authored work) is essentially a move and goal to eliminate the ability to enforce human authored copyrights.
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Question: how correlated ban of AI art and bulk sales of our items to AI database training?
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Why Envato is not letting us decide if we want AI companies train from our music or not? Pond5 did it with just an on/off button. Doesn’t sound like that hard, I hope, for such a large company. I don’t like that knife on our neck while telling us "You do as we tell you or get out of my house and go to H**l).
That’s really terrible. I don’t have many sales on this platform, so I don’t lose anything on deleting my items (which took a serious amount of time to upload in the way Envato wants), but I’ll wait a while (before the deadline) to see If they reconsider and add that freaking button.
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Very useful reading about current state of AI music with few very optimistic examples Hands on with Google's AI-powered music generator | TechCrunch
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This is bad, but do you think other websites like this are going to start doing the same?
The ones that are leaving Envato, do you have an idea what to do? or which webite choose?
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What a disgrace.
I haven’t posted here in many years, but I will be removing my entire portfolio and have asked Envato to close my account.
The place is a soulless husk of what it once was and certainly has so few of the core values it espoused in 2009 when I first joined.
The automatic opt-in is an abhorrence.
No mention of any profit-share being passed down to authors whose work the AI has trained on (and let’s be honest why would they). Also a disgrace.
" We believe in providing genuine opportunities to create, earn and grow for creators around the world, and strive to make creative success accessible and achievable for all, both independently and as part of a global community.
Committed to balancing purpose and profit, we support our customers, authors, people, society and shareholders to achieve success. It’s why we’re a passionate B Corp, ensuring the work we do has a positive impact on the world around us."
The above is now laughable at this point.
While I appreciate AI was inevitable and some people will be embracing this, the immediacy with which Envato has gone about it while seemingly going against some of their core values is striking.
I’m so disappointed in the company. As both an author and a past reviewer of items here, I cannot believe where this company has gone to so fast and frankly with this policy I now view it as a stain on my resume. A company that helped me get my feet off the ground in the past is now something I will look at with embarassment and disgust.
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Well said. It stinks.
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I think what you want to do is close your account. Deleting the content helps, hopefully, but if they’ve got it backed up anywhere they’ll still likely say it gets opted in.