Paying to download GPL themes

[Jeffro]

I wonder if any other popular WP themers would have made the move to a GPL model if Brian hadn't paved the way?

I think that is an interesting question, one in which we can't answer because of how things have turned out. But if I were to give you an honest answer, I would say no. Please note, I'm not speaking for those theme authors but it's my opinion that without someone to verify that it's not as bad as people thought, it probably wouldn't have happened. Although I'm sure someone at some point would decide to be a pioneer

[rbhavesh]

I am late into the party here but this seems to be the right time and right place to ask some questions I have to the leading paid theme developers including - Brian Gardner, Cory Miller, Nathan Rice and Adii

1) Whats ethical and non-ethical under GPL is another debate but my question is - when you guys say "we are going 100% GPL now" what exactly does it mean?

From my perspective, only the thing that changed at your site is - Number of times a buyer can use the theme - and nothing else. They still can't redistribute, resale (modified or not)

In that case, I wouldn't agree that you guys embraced GPL license but simply changed the number of times a product could be used.

Correct me if I am wrong.

[Ryan]

Welcome to the forum :)

From my perspective, only the thing that changed at your site is - Number of times a buyer can use the theme - and nothing else. They still can't redistribute, resale (modified or not)

No, once you have obtained a copy of the GPL'd theme you are allowed to sell it and distribute it. The debate above was about whether that is ethical or not, not about the legalities of it.

[nathanrice]

100% GPL = all the code and images we include in the theme are covered under the GPL license.

Previously, we placed a proprietary copyright on the CSS, images, and some custom PHP (at iThemes, that is ... and I believe that up until recently, StudioPress had the same policy). That copyright helped us maintain a usage policy that dictated things like usage and distribution. Since we dropped that copyright, those "rules" no longer exist.

[carlhancock]

I wonder if any other popular WP themers would have made the move to a GPL model if Brian hadn't paved the way?

I think the stampede to GPL has more to do with Matt Mullenweg announcing they will be creating an area to promote commercial GPL themes and the untold riches that will bring them...

If WordPress wasn't planning on doing this and decided to NOT promote any commercial themes, GPL or non-GPL, you wouldn't see this rush to adopt the GPL licensing.

WordPress.org gets a TON of traffic so not only will you gain a large referrer of potential customers, you will also help your SEO by being linked to from a site that has a great Google page rank.

That is where this is coming from. It's a business decision. A smart one given the moves WordPress is making.

Kudos to Brian for proving the premium GPL theme business model, but it's the move by WordPress and Matt Mullenweg to promote GPL premium themes that has spurred the current adoption of the GPL.

Although this premium theme area on WordPress.org has yet to materialize...

[chriswallace]

@adii Like it's been mentioned, we're just having a discussion. No fighting. :) Hugs not drugs.

[Brad]

@rbhavesh

From what I can tell, StudioPress, WooThemes and iThemes are all 100% GPL as they claim. I don't see anything in their terms that would imply otherwise.

[Brian Gardner]

Nathan - for clarity, when Revolution switched to the GPL license back in October, it was 100% back then, and has never changed. (even through the rebranding of StudioPress, our themes were 100% GPL - images & css included.)

100% GPL = all the code and images we include in the theme are covered under the GPL license.

Previously, we placed a proprietary copyright on the CSS, images, and some custom PHP (at iThemes, that is ... and I believe that up until recently, StudioPress had the same policy). That copyright helped us maintain a usage policy that dictated things like usage and distribution. Since we dropped that copyright, those "rules" no longer exist.

[andreasnrb]

... Since we dropped that copyright, those "rules" no longer exist.

GPL does not govern copyright. Copyright is a law that different nations/states have even signed international papers on. GPL is just a license, its a civilian matter. Hence you don't see any prosecutors going after people who violate the GPL but people that violate copyright laws such as with the famous Pirate Bay etc.