7 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
7 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Open Source Code

by prosell
6 replies
I bought this theme but I'm a little confused because I bought it to create a site and sell it but now the owner of the theme says it's an open source code and I can't sell the theme without giving the person my license. Does anyone know how I can make this work for me and what is an open source code. I don't want to give my license to the buyer and have to rebuy the theme b/c it's kind of expensive. Any ideas.
#code #open #source
  • Profile picture of the author Rickmci
    Originally Posted by prosell View Post

    I bought this theme but I'm a little confused because I bought it to create a site and sell it but now the owner of the theme says it's an open source code and I can't sell the theme without giving the person my license. Does anyone know how I can make this work for me and what is an open source code. I don't want to give my license to the buyer and have to rebuy the theme b/c it's kind of expensive. Any ideas.

    Open source means you can give it away for free (in most cases). Many times people think they have bought a license to software to only find out it is open source and could have been downloaded elseware for free.

    Many time you are purchasing enhansments to open source. You need to check this with the vendor you purchaned it from though. Find out exactly what the redistrubution rights are. Many times buying something like a plug in come with royalty free distro rights so you can design and resell sites.
    Signature

    Visit dotProject Project Management Software for free 60 day Project Management Software.

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3189394].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author h_al
    Open-source does not mean it's free.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3190422].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Ken Durham
    Open source - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    People deserve to be paid for their work, don't you think?
    If you want a reusable theme perhaps hire someone to create one for you. It might not be as expensive as you think.
    Signature

    yes, I am....

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3190948].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author prosell
      I see. I paid for it but I guess it's a lesson learned. Actually, I would be willing to pay for a developers license wasn't looking for something for free but found out they don't provide that. Thanks
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3191496].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author ntemple
        There's so much mis-information and mis-understanding about "open source" that you need to know exactly what type of license the software is under, then you can better understand your rights and obligations.

        You can find some common licenses at opensource.org, as well as their wordings.

        There is a fuzzy line when you purchase open source, as technically you may be able to redistribute it, if you remove any trademarked items, clearly give credit, etc ... each license has more details on terms of redistribution.

        However, and this is a big however, even if you can legally re-distribute without paying for an additional license, doing so can begin to undermine the developers bread-and-butter, so it's a tricky situation.

        Themes are even harder to quantify because themes probably can't be licensed under most open source licenses, because of the way they create an aggregate work by combining the look and feel of the theme with content owned under separate copyright.

        [Gets real legally technical from here on out, I can go into more details only if someone wants the info.]

        My suggestion? If you use a commercial theme on a site for sale, you'll simply have to recoup the cost of the theme by increasing the price of the sites you sell, and making the theme a benefit.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3195557].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author prosell
    Thank you for your input.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[3199144].message }}

Trending Topics