How do you know all your freebies are legit?

12 replies
Okay so I got to thinking, I've signed up to quite a few lists and most have a bonus like a free report. Some though are giving away things like WP themes, PLR rights and software. My question is how can you determine if they actually have the right to pass on the license to someone else? Could I be in trouble for using some of this stuff if it turns out that the list owner was passing it on without permission?
#freebies #legit
  • Profile picture of the author lotsofsnow
    That's a good question. Never thought of this.

    Basically you are responsible for everything that you do. That means if somebody "gives" you some free stuff that he is not actually allowed to give you, you can be held responsible for this.

    Most of the time you will only read the stuff that you receive one time and then it will be sitting on your computer never to be accessed again. So the risk is practically very low.

    If on the other hand somebody gives you some stuff o software and tells you it comes with a lisence to sell or give away you should do some digging and asking questions before you actually start selling such items.
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  • Profile picture of the author Syed Raza
    Hey Friend !

    In List Building you actually have to built a relationship and relationship comes with TRUST

    All Of the Marketers giveaways free gifts to their lists because they know you gonna like them and will buy from them later

    But you should not promote that free gift because it do not belongs to you
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  • Profile picture of the author wikiklix
    I think it is probably a bit of a grey area in some ways. Ultimately it is difficult to know if someone really has the right to pass on a product of theme. They could quite easily create a new license and pass that on with the product. I think if you were passed on a product and you genuinely thought you had a right to use it and you could back it up with information on where you got the product from and who passed it to you. It would be hard for anyone to blame you for using it, potentially we could all fall foul of this. You just have to be cautious and if someone approaches you and you present a license that isn't the right one do what you can to explain the situation and rectify the problem by either not using the product or paying the appropriate fees.
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  • Profile picture of the author UnkwnUsr
    A lot of the PLR stuff I trust because it's older stuff and the guy giving it away actually runs a PLR website. It's more these WP Themes which I've seen given away but online cost $30 that makes me suspicious.
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    • Profile picture of the author Brent Stangel
      Originally Posted by UnkwnUsr View Post

      A lot of the PLR stuff I trust because it's older stuff and the guy giving it away actually runs a PLR website. It's more these WP Themes which I've seen given away but online cost $30 that makes me suspicious.
      If you intend to reuse it, do some searching. It should be easy enough to determine if you have the rights to use it. If they say you do, they should provide you with a license which will tell you exactly what you can do with it.
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    • Profile picture of the author Green Moon
      Originally Posted by UnkwnUsr View Post

      A lot of the PLR stuff I trust because it's older stuff and the guy giving it away actually runs a PLR website. It's more these WP Themes which I've seen given away but online cost $30 that makes me suspicious.
      A lot of material I have seen in some PLR packages was taken word-for-word from articles on sites like ezinearticles and articlebase, but without the name of the author or the author box. Those articles are not copyright-free, and removing the author's information violates the limited license to reuse the material.

      As hpgoodboy said, you are liable for how you use material. The fact that someone who gave it to you purported to give you rights that he had no right to give does not let you off the hook.
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  • Profile picture of the author ForumGuru
    Banned
    Originally Posted by UnkwnUsr View Post

    Okay so I got to thinking, I've signed up to quite a few lists and most have a bonus like a free report. Some though are giving away things like WP themes, PLR rights and software. My question is how can you determine if they actually have the right to pass on the license to someone else? Could I be in trouble for using some of this stuff if it turns out that the list owner was passing it on without permission?
    Buy from the source --> it's almost the only way you can know for sure.

    In-fact I have busted many Fiverr gigs for selling stolen photos and pirated software --- in-fact almost every stock image and software gig I have purchased from Fiverr were stolen and in the end I had all of the sellers removed by Fiverr.

    I have also busted many WSOs for selling pirated images and a few for selling pirated software and the warrior forum admins/mods were quick to remove those WSOs --> but by then lots of peeps already had stolen material in their hands.

    To carry that a bit further --> I still see plenty of that same stolen material at some of the larger PLR sites, so that stolen material gets distributed, and redistributed, and redistributed again.

    As far as non-stolen PLR, MRR, and RR I see it being distributed with the wrong licenses quite frequently as many PLR purchasers (so-called product sellers) never bother to read their licenses or take the time to create a new end user licenses.

    As a 13 year image pro I have found my images all over the internet offered for free or with licenses I never authorized. So IMHO you never do know for sure unless you go straight to the known source or a highly trusted distributor.

    And to your point of receiving bogus bonus material I have busted that as well. I have seen even some of the "big shot" marketers distributing bogus material.

    Some will try to say you are protected if you were given a license --> but without a contract, receipt or anything else official I would not be so sure about that!

    Regards,

    -don
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    • Profile picture of the author UnkwnUsr
      Originally Posted by ForumGuru View Post

      Buy from the source --> it's almost the only way you can know for sure.

      In-fact I have busted many Fiverr gigs for selling stolen photos and pirated software --- in-fact almost every stock image and software gig I have purchased from Fiverr were stolen and in the end I had all of the sellers removed by Fiverr.

      I have also busted many WSOs for selling pirated images and a few for selling pirated software and the warrior forum admins/mods were quick to remove those WSOs --> but by then lots of peeps already had stolen material in their hands.

      To carry that a bit further --> I still see plenty of that same stolen material at some of the larger PLR sites, so that stolen material gets distributed, and redistributed, and redistributed again.

      As far as non-stolen PLR, MRR, and RR I see it being distributed with the wrong licenses quite frequently as many PLR purchasers (so-called product sellers) never bother to read their licenses or take the time to create a new end user licenses.

      As a 13 year image pro I have found my images all over the internet offered for free or with licenses I never authorized. So IMHO you never do know for sure unless you go straight to the known source or a highly trusted distributor.

      And to your point of receiving bogus bonus material I have busted that as well. I have seen even some of the "big shot" marketers distributing bogus material.

      Some will try to say you are protected if you were given a license --> but without a contract, receipt or anything else official I would not be so sure about that!

      Regards,

      -don
      Many of these licenses are just PDF documents that anyone can make up with OpenOffice. Without a unique license number you really have no idea. I would think PLR owners would be more concerned about their products but I think they are more concerned about constantly coming up with new products then protecting existing ones. Is there a way to check the license of WP theme? I've got a bunch of nice ones that would be nice to use but I'm unsure about them.
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      • Profile picture of the author ForumGuru
        Banned
        Originally Posted by UnkwnUsr View Post

        Is there a way to check the license of WP theme? I've got a bunch of nice ones that would be nice to use but I'm unsure about them.
        Hi,

        Sorry, I am not an expert in identifying stolen Wordpress themes at all. I know Wordpress was developed under the GPL license though.

        WordPress › About » GPL

        Tons of people have commented on this controversial thread here which can be an interesting read for some.

        http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...um-themes.html

        For a basic read check here.

        A Newbie's Guide to the GPL and WordPress Licensing

        I know some companies develop plugins and themes under the GPL license and then they sell updates, support and instructions/manuals on the plugins which keeps them running through Wordpress changes.

        I believe that many of the images and at least some of the scripts that are added to the GPL framework can be copyrighted/protected so many times the plugin/theme is a combination deal.

        But back to your question --> other than looking through the code or comparing the codes I don't know of a good way to easily identify pirated themes.

        Quite possibly one of the excellent theme or plugin developers can chime in on this!

        Cheers

        -don
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        • Profile picture of the author UnkwnUsr
          Originally Posted by ForumGuru View Post

          Hi,

          Sorry, I am not an expert in identifying stolen Wordpress themes at all. I know Wordpress was developed under the GPL license though.

          WordPress › About » GPL

          Tons of people have commented on this controversial thread here which can be an interesting read for some.

          http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...um-themes.html

          For a basic read check here.

          A Newbie's Guide to the GPL and WordPress Licensing

          I know some companies develop plugins and themes under the GPL license and then they sell updates, support and instructions/manuals on the plugins which keeps them running through Wordpress changes.

          I believe that many of the images and at least some of the scripts that are added to the GPL framework can be copyrighted/protected so many times the plugin/theme is a combination deal.

          But back to your question --> other than looking through the code or comparing the codes I don't know of a good way to easily identify pirated themes.

          Quite possibly one of the excellent theme or plugin developers can chime in on this!

          Cheers

          -don
          Funny those themes from the WSO are the ones I received as a bonus. So from what I gather I could probably use the themes but wouldn't receive updates or access to support. While support is not a big deal for me getting updates is kind of important as over time it could stop working with various plugins and have security issues.
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          • Profile picture of the author ForumGuru
            Banned
            Originally Posted by UnkwnUsr View Post

            Funny those themes from the WSO are the ones I received as a bonus. So from what I gather I could probably use the themes but wouldn't receive updates or access to support. While support is not a big deal for me getting updates is kind of important as over time it could stop working with various plugins and have security issues.
            Really... It's can be a small world around here sometimes!

            Yeah, I quit messing with bonus and the "who knows from where" free themes more than a year ago. I am sure some good ones may be available but I am done using them.

            I use a few paid themes straight from the developers, a yearly membership theme club, and a couple of basic free ones that are regularly updated in the Wordpress theme gallery.

            Cheers!

            -don
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  • This is also an issue with RR and MRR products as it's unclear to some people what the main differences are between a Resell Rights License, and a Master Resell Rights License.

    Some folks purchase a basic RR product which comes with that license granting them the rights to resell it.

    But then they resell it, and leave the RR license inside the product folder! (You're supposed to leave it out if you are not allowed to pass it on).

    So now the next purchaser gets that product, and sees the RR license, and think that they can then resell it too, (which technically the license says they can, so they do), but the previous vendor was not supposed to pass on that license.

    Following me?

    So if everyone passes on that basic RR licence, what they are then really doing is treating an RR license as an MRR license.

    Much of this mess comes from "not knowing", and sometimes it comes down to "not caring" and trying to make a buck. Ethically, legally, or not.

    I do have to say however that it's also the original product creator's responsibly to make sure that the purchasers know exactly what is expected of them, as in, (do not pass on the RR license!!).
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