For some Items, a component of the Item will be sourced by the author from elsewhere and different license terms may apply to the component, such as someone else’s license or an open source or creative commons license. If so, the component will be identified by the author in the Item’s description page or in the Item’s downloaded files. The other license will apply to that component instead of this license. This license will apply to the rest of the Item.

On some of the Envato Marketplaces (particularly ThemeForest and CodeCanyon) authors sell a range of items including themes and plugins for open source platforms. These platforms include WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, and a number of others, most of which are licensed under the General Public License (GPL).

If you want to use something that is licensed under the GPL (whether as a buyer or an author) then, to meet the terms of the GPL, the GPL license must also be included with the item when it’s distributed because those terms also govern any further use of the part of that item that’s distributed under the GPL. For an author, this means that when they upload their item, it should include a text file containing the GPL.

Envato’s marketplace license for themes or plugins sold on the marketplaces covers all the components of these items, except for the specific components covered by the GPL. This is why it’s called a split license: because different license terms can cover individual components that make up a single item.

Owning copyright in an original work gives you the right to decide how that work is used. When an author sells an item on the Envato Marketplaces, they use that right to agree to use our licenses when they sell items to buyers. The licenses set out how a buyer can use the item and the restrictions on that use.

Often an author will use other assets in their items that are created by a third-party, such as certain JavaScript libraries. These third-party assets most often come with their own licenses, and authors must make sure they have appropriate rights and permissions to include them with their item. Further reading on this is available in our article “What Images, Videos, Code or Music Can I Use in my Items?”.