Videohive has stopped (Part 1)

Introduction

First of all I wanted to say that this topic is written without any negative emotions, so if at some point it seems to you this way- then you should know this isn’t true. I’ve found it very difficult to find the exact words to express my deepest gratitude to Collis (@collis), Mark (@MarkBrodhuber ) and to the whole team who created Videohive and to those who support the work on this market at the moment. My main income comes from the Videohive and I know many authors who also receive income only from selling their templates here. Sometimes I may really not like something, sometimes I may be against some innovations, I may start planning to leave the market or just stop doing templates and do other business, but one thing is the same always - my gratitude for Videohive and for the fact that it appeared in my life.

Basic moments

I have been registered here for 7 years already and during that time I have seen the changes of the market, trends, new authors and new templates and now with the confidence I can declare that Videohive has stopped. Of course it’s not about the number of new templates or the number of new customers and sales. Just the other way around, the number of buyers and sales has increased the same way as the number of the templates. What I am talking about is the development of the Videohive. It seems to me that one day Videohive has stopped to grow and to get better. It has stopped it attempts to get more convenient for both the buyers and authors. It has stopped to acquire significant improvements. Sure, it has been a great idea to make TOP files for each section and subsection and I really believe that this is a cool thing that appeared a few months ago.

Also, I have an impression that the trend to increase the amount of templates rather than their quality has been chosen. The trend to attract new authors has also influenced the old ones and they have been simply forgotten. I am in touch with many of the old and so called “elite authors” of the Videohive from the different countries who share with me their ideas and plans for the future and I should tell you that they no longer see any prospects of investing their potential to the Videohive. Yes, they are working on small projects for Videohive from time to time, but their enormous potential which they could have realized on Videohive is no longer finds any support here. Because Videohive has stopped.

I have identified a few key points that on my opinion Envato has to pay attention to. I will be grateful if the old and the new authors add their ideas to this list to support what I have written.

Point 1. The trend directed to increase the quantity of the templates rather than their quality.

a) We can all clearly see the number of the same type projects on the Videohive that have appeared lately. The same clean-titles, corporate presentations and a lot of slideshows with 3D depth and the white lines. Sometimes I can’t distinguish one from the other. Do not get me wrong, I have nothing against these templates. I understand that this is business and if these projects are profitable for Envato and the authors- they have to be accepted. This is okay, but the problem is that a lot of interesting and unusual works get lost among of identical templates. They do not receive enough attention and sales, because an hour later a new batch of clean-titles, corporate presentations and slideshows with 3D depth will be loaded to Videohive. Videohive started to loose its bright variety to which it aimed before. Because Videohive has stopped.

It would be great if the section “Futured Video of The Week“ could be bigger and instead of one- several projects selected by every reviewer during the verification stage could have been placed there within few times for a week. This section should be major and it has to grow and develop. You may call it the “Editor’s Choice” it really does not matter. It is important that new and interesting projects will appear there and many authors will try to get there, rather than to merge in the mass of new projects.

b) New authors who come to Videohive have no intention to create something new and interesting. They just copy projects from one another because that is much easier. This happens because many new authors are new in After Effects and still do not have appropriate skills to do something interesting or just try to go beyond. At the same time, the authors (new or old) who have skills to create something new are not willing to do it because there are no incentives for better and more interesting projects. There are no incentives for the «out of the box» projects. I remember myself asking for a price increase for my sand animation project, which was originally estimated as a simple slide show for just $ 25 which can be done in 2-3 hours. I do not blame the reviewers for putting a small price for my project first, as they were simply following their corporate rules. But this was the first sand animation project on the Videohive. When new authors see a project that consuming the time and money and it was estimated at $ 25, they ask themselves a simple question - “Why should I look for new ideas and do something that takes time? I would rather do a simple slide show”. Well, the second sand project for $ 28, brought me more problems than I could imagine. I will write about it below but many people might have heard this story.

c) All of this is also bad for the consumers, who now need to spend a lot of time to find a suitable project. Template Library has become huge and 15 tags for one project is no longer enough.

d) Many old authors have gained skills and are ready for the global and interesting work, but the existing two licenses and their prices, do not give the opportunity to do it directly on Videohive. This also applies to the problem of attracting new talented and authoritative authors. Videohive is doing much more to attract and to encourage the beginners, but does nothing to attract talented authors. I know many old authors who have lost interest in doing something new for Videohive. Some are already having their own studios, some are doing their plugins, some are working with 4K files that shooted by the RED ONE and then make the projects with those materials and some are making incredible motion graphics. But they do not aim to sell all of that on Videohive for $ 28-84 dollars. The fact is that the ordinary buyer would be quite satisfied with Full HD and does not need a super-quality and great attention to details, so he or she is not willing to pay a higher price to post a video on YouTube. Only the buyers who value quality and details, who will post their works on TV and movie theaters, are willing to pay $ 500, $ 1,000 and more to get a quality product in a short period of time. But there are no such licenses on the Videohive and this is one of the main reasons why many talented authors do not place their works on Videohive. Shortly speaking, the problem is not a small price for the ordinary buyers, the problem is a small price for those who usually pay much more for things like that and that is what stops many authors to upload high-quality projects here.

###Point 2. The Lack of gradation licenses (a big problem).

No, it’s a HUGE PROBLEM!

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A simple example: A buyer purchases a project from me with an extended license for $ 99 to broadcast it on TV. At the same time, the buyer acquires a music track from AudioJungle at with Music Broadcast & Film licence for $ 304 to use it with my videohive project. Is everything right or I have missed something? Does such difference in the price of a license mean that the work on the creation of After Effects projects easier than work on a music track? Is this a reason why the cost of a project less than the price of music tracks? Of course not. Both music track and After Effects template require a lot of time and efforts and sometimes, just on the contrary, they both can be created easily and quickly when inspiration captures us entirety. I know it, you know it, everybody knows it. And the reason for the price difference is only that Videohive has stopped.

I remember a few years ago, one author from the AudioJungle became the reason for creation of the new licenses. Of course, that is also a merit of those who supported his post then. Tim (@TimMcMorris) , could you please remind me how many years have passed since that? Two or three? I tried to find this post on the old forum, but the search engine did not work. I was very happy when new licenses appeared on AudioJungle. I believed that this was a right way and I thought that the next in line was Videohive. How much time has passed since the time the new licences appeared on the AudioJungle? Since then, the authors from the GraphicRiver received an opportunity to designate the price for their items on their own, Themeforest authors were able to earn extra for their support but the authors from the Videohive during all that time were able just to observe the changes in licenses at the other markets. Because Videohive has stopped.

The templates from Videohive have long been used for music videos, movie trailers, TV commercials and TV shows for quite a long time. But what was done for Videohive? - The price of a single extended license has been reduced several times, instead of making it as at AudioJungle.

I would be very happy to see the same licenses as at the AudioJungle when ordinary people can buy the item at a small price, while those who buy it in order to earn the money pay a higher price, and the more person is planning to earn from this item - the more more money he has to pay for a license.

The saddest point is that I do not know if I will be heard in Envato and if they will hear me how much time will it take to create new licenses? One year? Two? Never?

###Point 3. Pricing of 4K projects and the absence of the kit-collections

a) Again, a simple example:
Here is 4K footage for $ 40 - https://videohive.net/item/businessman-using-touchpad-/14568601
Yes, there is a good video-codec, but here is a 4K project for $ 33 - https://videohive.net/item/billboards-mockup/7973907 which includes several (!) 4K footage, as well as many hours of work in After Effects.
This is all the same if the Music Pack from AudioJungle has been sold for less than one music track. How many authors would agree to release such kit-collections on AudioJungle?

I understand that Videohive covers a large audience of buyers due to low prices. It was from the beginning and I do not call on to raise the prices high, I call on to review the pricing policy for some items and add more licenses. Point 3 is one of the reasons why the Point 1 exists. Videohive encourages more simple items and does not encourage the more complicated. Why not to give the authors an opportunity to upload different versions of their projects at the different prices? Full HD may cost less, while 4K should be more expensive, as it creation of 4K project consumes more time and system resources. Besides, 4K need is required for the large-scale projects, and people are willing to pay a little more for such a template.

b) What the sales statistics of Music Packs/Kits is saying? Does it not bring sales? Does it not bring profit for Envato and authors? Are single tracks no longer generate sales because people began to buy only Music Packs and Kits? I know a lot of musicians from Audiojungle and I know that their Music Packs are sold, single tracks sold, Broadcast & film licenses are sold. Then why this opportunity does not exist for authors from Videohive? I know why - because Videohive has stopped.

This could be a good incentive for the old Videohive authors, who has a large portfolio, and who was forgotten by you. And it would be great for new authors as well, who are willing to do more extensive work. You can make certain restrictions for Videohive Packs (Kits). For example, can be used no more than 3 or 4 projects in one Kit, all projects must be from the section, the same project can not be in two different Kits etc. Unfortunately, this possibility no one even takes into consideration, and you know why.

###Point 4. Changing the terms of the licenses and copyright infringement.

a) As I wrote, I have been registered on Videohive for 7 years already and from the moment I have uploaded my first project, I still get the questions from the customers which license to choose for the particular use. Yes, to be honest, sometimes I do not understand too what kind of a license to advise my customers when they ask the question. The popularity of Videohive has long ago gone beyond the Internet, I see my works and the works of other authors from here on TV shows, movies and commercials. But the last time interacting with the support, I realized that there is a kind of vulnerability that exists in the license, which may influence the choice of some buyers to the direction of a regular license instead of buying extended one (I can not talk openly on that subject at the moment).

I believe that introduction of the new types of licenses will help to fix many of the problems and help customers to get a better understanding to choose a right license for a particular case.

Now in 2017, YouTube vlogging overtakes the ratings of many tv channels. Popular vloggers earn a lot of money on advertising and they are working in whole working teams. But still the use of After Effects projects for YouTube is equivalent to a regular license. Many TV channels do not earn as much as some vloggers, but still have to purchase an extended license. This issue has been already resolved at the aAudioJungle with new types of licenses, but has not yet been resolved at Videohive. Why? You already know why - because Videohive has stopped.

b) ContentID. I have faced the fact that many of the buyers do not understand (or do not know) that they can not add the projects that bought from Videohive to the ContentID system on YouTube. Many buyers simply do something for a customer, then transfer the video file and do not ask them not to add the video to the ContentID. This happens because they have no idea that they cannot do it this way. There is no word about ContentID and the responsibility for such an act under the conditions of the license.

As a result, already few times my projects was blocked by ContentID system by a certain person or the company and I had to write urgently the answers to all my customers, who posted the video with my project on YouTube. But the most brazen and unprecedented was the case when my project on YouTube was blocked by Sony Music, because they had released a music video on YouTube based entirely on my project. For a year, they had been blocking my project in my channel on YouTube, in my customers channels in the channels of people who had participated in Envato referral program and who placed links to the market. And the problem is that the cost of the license used for Sony Music, which they broke, was so small that I could not even find a lawyer in the United States. I wrote to various public organizations, but they have not helped me. They sent me a list of lawyers who I can apply to, but only one agreed to work with me without any prepayment but for a percentage of future compensation. I was waiting for him for two months, but then he told me that he wouldn’t take my case, because even though it was doomed to success it did not promise big profits. I wrote to Envato and asked for help there, but also received the refused. I’m not angry, and I do not blame Envato that they did not help, because they were not obliged to do so. But I would have been happy if Envato then helped to find a lawyer or at least wrote an article on their blog, to give publicity to this case. A large company like Envato, can make a lot of noise by simple words to make another large company to pay attention to it.

Later, I wrote in Google, but they refused to give me an access to ContentID system. I’ve registered into AdRev, but it works well only for musicians, because AdRev does not provide full access to ContentID for the motion-design and I can not independently make a digital stamp of my project in the ContentID system to keep track of other videos, request a purchase or block the video if it was loaded with any violations.

In general, Videohive needs at least new items in the license agreement to help the authors to defend themselves against the copyright infringement. Even if it does not help to prevent a violation, at least, in future it will help to defend themselves at the court, find good lawyers and receive higher compensation for their time.

  • The last paragraph of the existing license about copyright, should come first, but not the last as it is now.

  • The second paragraph has to be that you can not add a video from Videohive, that was used in your video, to ContentID system or something similar.

  • In case of a second paragraph violation of the license the buyer agrees to pay damages in court at the amount of 10 times size of the Extended License or even more, depending on the consequences of a breach. (I’m not a lawyer and I do not know how realistic this point is, but think that there has to be the liability clause).

This is the end of the first part. I still have lots of ideas how to improve Videohive which I would gladly share with you. But in case the foregoing in the first part would not meet any response among Envato management I see no point to write anything else anymore. I do believe that everything I have written above should be beneficial to everyone: to Envato, to old authors, to new authors, to customers because it is not all about the money but about common sense.


Well, Videohive has stopped, but maybe it is a high time to move further?

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Collis (@Collis), Mark (@MarkBrodhuber), as the epilog to the first part I want to add words of known to you author from Audiojungle. These words were written few years ago and after all these years I can’t add to them something more. Just one thing must be done, replace “Audiojungle” to “Videohive”:

We all signed up for that, and we get it. I understand that AudioJungle is not meant to rival a custom licensing agreement in flexibility or pricing. In my opinion however, we have now run into a situation where the boundaries of fairness are being pushed too far towards the customer’s (and yes, Envato’s) benefit.

The idea has always been that AudioJungle (Envato) and it’s content producers would grow together. We are continually raising the bar on production quality, and offering more flexibility to customers by providing additional options, cuts, or edits, etc. As the boundaries of quality are being continually pushed, music is taking longer to produce, and investments in equipment, technology and personal improvement are more expensive than ever.

It is also no secret that we now have numerous, really, numerous internationally famous brands coming to AudioJungle as their primary source for audio. My hope, and being patient in waiting, was that Envato was taking steps to rectify this. The new license types are a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, the gains of the license types are instantaneously destroyed by the pricing structure.

The bottom line for the last long while has been that authors are being heavily and wrongfully exploited for the buyer’s benefit. I held my peace because I believed Envato was working towards a fair solution for all involved. Now that everything is out in the open, I sadly see it that author’s are being wrongfully exploited for Envato’s benefit as well. Notice I say wrongfully – we ought to be exploited to a degree, that is the whole purpose of this.

Please don’t misunderstand me – I want Envato to continuously prosper, especially financially. I want buyers to get a good deal and be happy with the products they are receiving. I also want authors to be fairly compensated for the time, effort and money they are investing; compensation that is proportionate to the ways that their work is being used.

As it stands however, for goodness sake, please review the pricing of the top two tiers! Unlimited copies or downloads, unlimited time use, broadcast audience of up to 10 million, no PRO. All for $144??? Are you serious? I am not asking for thousands of dollars here… but please, at the very least, push this up to $300 or something. The same goes for the final license. It desperately needs a revision.

People often claim that the royalty free model is destroying the entire licensing industry. The truth is, both models, traditional music licensing and royalty free licensing can co-exist. When the prices are being driven down this low for uses which certainly deserve more however, it does put the two at odds, and one does completely undermined and devalue the other.

I am a little heart-broken. This has been simultaneously receiving the best and worst news at the same time.

Friends, I don’t know if I can continue to be a part of a model that demands so much of it’s authors, exploiting their work to the highest degree – TV commercials, Major Motion Pictures, Hit Television Series, Internationally famous sporting events, barring performance royalties; all while offering (keeping the above in mind) by comparison – little in return.

I have been a huge advocate of AudioJungle since the beginning. I have been so happy to be apart of this community. This however, this is wrong. I must say it openly. This time, you guys have it wrong, and it is forcing me to take a very real look at how my future plays out here.


The source - https://audiojungle.net/forums/thread/brand-new-music-licensing-coming-soon-to-audiojungle/140570?page=15

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Spare a thought for the lowly drones in the motion graphics category.

After Effects Template (used $22 as a kind of average)…

Single use on Youtube: $22
Single use in a Feature Film: $66
Use in all 14 Marvel Cinematic Universe films so far (Just as an example): $924

Motion Graphics Clip:

Single use on Youtube: $8
Single use in a Feature Film: $8
Use in all 14 Marvel Cinematic Universe films so far (Just as an example): $32

Just to use a metaphor from a film I watched recently: AudioJungle is ‘The Capitol’, After Effects category is ‘District 12’, and me and the motion graphics guys are… well… we’re the cat. May the catnip be ever in our favour.

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I agree, videohive do not need a new projects(new ideas),maybe they do not have a strong competitor, monarchy in relation to new authors and new ideas,but at the moment VideoHive is the best there is…

Great post, Wayman. I agree with every point and lack of licenses is the most frustrating for me.

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absolutely agree, bravo Alex

Absolutely accurate everything you say! It has long made such conclusions himself. Starting to do some major project always come across the idea, is it worth? Increasingly, I think to go to the slideshow, in which the soul is much less than for major creative works. I understand this is a market (it is profitable). And if nothing changes I’m firmly in the ranks of manufacturers volyus regular slideshow.

I couldn’t agree more with you Alex.

And congrats for your courage to bringing this issues up here in the forums .
At first i am also me one of the old authors that i am not so motivating anymore from videohive.
I am still in the template business , but i try to work also for other projects ,since obviously
Videohive has stopped.
And is not just the license …

I remember most of the mythic authors that they build the reputation of this marketplace…
Inlifethrill , PaoloGalvao, Vectorica, Yocreative, microzooms, IronikDesign with their amazing broadcast packs, flashato, danimult, felt tips , and many more… this are just a few that they came to my mind.
They all have something in common… they don’t upload files anymore… and if you take a look
you will see that their latest files for sure they never get the sales that they deserve.
Mostly because the game is now deferent.
It’s more important how you market your product, and les the quality of the product.
That’s why we all felt in the trap of the (inspirational parallax cinematic epic titles slideshow opener)
Easy and fast to create…and if it doesn’t sale…its OK…there is always the next one.
Ones there was a “what we want , and what we DONT want” list.
Once the plagiarism was a big deal in videohive.
Once the support was responding to authors.

I like to add also this IMHO.
It’s not fear the listing system of the “Top Authors” List.
Since we all try for some exposure…and we try hard to get in a higher position,
the fact that the position goes by sales and not by earnings, create a lot of unfair listing,
like… above me they are 68 authors that they are not yet “Elite Authors”, or
an author of “level 10” is in the 61th place when the first page is full of authors of lower level (in money production ofcours and not in quality)
Not to talk also about the mix of stock footage and templates.
Apart the fact that the first place in videohive list will be always occupied,
it creates a lot of problems in the new items page.
Videohive is the only marketplace where footage and templates are mixed.

Nick.

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Hi Alex,

Very good summary of issues Videohive have!
As we discussed recently you know I as author recently faced the same issue with youtube ContentID.

For sure this will affecting more and more Videohive authors and Videohive customers. This will affect Envato, so I hope Envato will choose to overcome these issues to survive and move forward.

Best Regards,
Andrey

Sad but true.

Great post!

Oh, I totally agree with you, my friend. First about the plagiarism, I always carefully looking for projects on the videohive, before making my project, so that it was not a march on the others. Therefore my projects so rarely publishes, I could make them a lot more, but I want uniqueness. But almost all of my projects are immediately copied by other authors. (
And I totally agree with you about licenses.

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Excellent post
Very interesting response envato

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I agree. Videohive has to move forward.

Thank you @Wayman
Very interesting! I’m really looking forward to Envato response

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Interesting proposals specially on the licenses section.
Unfortunatetly the marketplace has flooded with many simple & similar projects, pushing most authors to quit from making new and complex templates…

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Excellent post. We will wait for the reaction from Envato

Superb post! 100% agree with you, @Wayman.
Collis (@Collis) and Mark (@MarkBrodhuber) we need changes!!!

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Quite agree, except for the number of tags is now more than enough, I rarely use all tags. Due to the restrictions on number of tags you can better describe your project

I completely agree ! Absolutely detailed and clear art!