WordPress plugins and themes - GPL means they can be resold?

Envato Authors CodeCanyon
1

Hi.

I had a live chat recently with a guy from a website which is reselling lots of Envato items for lower prices.

I requested him the removal of my item from their website. The guy was understanding and he removed my item from their website, but I wanted to let them know too that what they are doing is illegal.

Then, he said that since WordPress is GPL, this means that anyone has the right to RESELL for money Envato WordPress themes and plugins.

Is he right?
Anyway, I reported the website to Envato Support, but I am curious if what that guy said is right.

2

No, he’s not right, since most of the themes here (95%+) aren’t sold on a GPL license, so he doesn’t hold any rights to resell and can be sued by the copyright owners.

The majority of the themes here are sold on a split license created by Envato, which means that PHP code is GPL, but JS and CSS code is not.

1 Like
3

Thank you @icypixels

For other people who think they can sell Envato items on other websites, read this about Envato’s split license and GPL here: https://help.market.envato.com/hc/en-us/articles/202501194

Also, please note that an item on Envato marketplace is GPL only if you explicitly see this:
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