I was about to become a paid member of a Wordpress Theme seller until I read the terms. Maybe, someone on the forum can help me understand the terms better.
I think the following two terms are at odds (items 2 and 3):
- Our WordPress themes are released under the GNU Public License version 2.0.
All .PSD files are packaged separately and are not licesned under the GPL 2.0. Instead, these files inherit the ABC Themes Personal Use License. These files are given to all members on a personal use basis. You may not offer them, modified or unmodified, for redistribution or resale of any kind. - You may not claim intellectual or exclusive ownership to any of our products, modified or unmodified. All products are property of ABC Themes Inc. Our products are provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. In no event shall our juridical person be liable for any damages including, but not limited to, direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages or other losses arising out of the use of or inability to use our products.
I substituted ABC for the real name.
It’s item 3 that confuses me. When I asked the owner to explain it, this is what he said:
“If you use our themes and modify them, you are the owner of the content alone. The actual theme and design is open source under the GNU license.”
This seems to be a contradiction to me. I decided not to join because I did not want to create a website and not own it. When I create a website for a customer, the customer owns the website, files and all.
I just read the explanation of the GPL in the Build Your Own Wicked Wordpress Themes and it seems to me that I should be the owner of a site that I built using a theme under the GPL. Am I missing something?