Downloading premium WP themes for free

Do you do it?

Not sure how many people know this, but its completely legal to download premium Wordpress themes and hand them out wherever you want (or even resell them).

This is because they are released under the GPL licence. So far example you can download all the Woo Themes here - http://discountvouchers.org/mikes-discounts/woothemes-free/

Would you still pay to get access to support forums etc? Or just take them free?

 

Take for free. Support sucks and you can get support on here!

 

How come its freE??
any catch??

 

It was in the original post, http://discountvouchers.org/mikes-discounts/woothemes-free/

Its free because Wordpress is released under a GPL licence. This means that anyone can distribute it, modify it, resell it, create derivatives of it etc, as long as they leave the GPL licence in place.

Since a theme is a derivative of it, the themes themselves have to be released under GPL so you can legitimately download them. The theme creator said the same in that link above.

 

Id take it like I take my girlfriends mmm lmao

 

Thanks really thanks

 

Does not this imply that you only need to pay for one license? Then you can use it for free?

 

You don't need to pay for any licence at all, thats what GPL means. You can just start downloading them and using them, giving them away, or even sell them.

 

ok - thanks

 

You take your chances that the theme files are not corrupt, don't have any adware or hidden links embedded with them, or are even updated to work with the latest version of Wordpress.

GPL doesn't mean that you can steal the theme, it is directed at the purchaser.

Personally, I don't need to take things from people. I believe in paying for things that I want and that a good designer should be paid for their work.

Amazing that so many people feel comfortable taking things that THEY KNOW are meant to be for sale, yet don't feel the same when it comes to making money on their own website.

If someone were to steal or redirect clicks or affiliate commission from you (and using unauthorized scripts and themes is exactly how it happens), all of you would loose your minds and scream bloody murder..posting how unfair it was...but you will do it to someone else. Tragic. Just Tragic that this is the attitude of noobs on the web. Obviously successful webmasters don't think like this...which is one reason why they are successful.

And that is why you don't make any money..unscrupulous sense of business. Because if you were making any money, you would just pay for what you wanted instead of constantly looking for a way to scam someone. It's not like themes cost 1000's of dollars.

If taking things is the only way that you can get ahead, your life on the web is short lived. You know that downloading them from unauthorized sources is not the intention of the designer, so why waste so much time trying to find a loop hole to scam them?

If you don't think a theme is worth the price, then don't use it..but don't be a crook about it...like it..want to use it, but won't pay for it.
Especially for the amount of money we are talking about. That's just ridiculous.

We have a word for that type of behavior in the U.S...it's called "Ghetto".

If I ever saw a successful website using a stolen version of one of my scripts or themes, I would sue them back into the stone age. Being slick could cost you thousands of dollars just because you didn't want to spend 10's of dollars...but none of you will ever have to worry about that...you won't make 1000's of dollars.

 

You can look in the source code and tell that - you can also look at the versions and they are the latest ones.

You don't understand what GPL is. You can't "steal" anything released under GPL, because you have the absolute right to do anything with that you want.

That is your choice - but they are not breaking the law by doing so. The designer chose to release things under GPL to get the benefit of working on the Wordpress platform, so they need to accept the downside of that very same license.

Again you talk about stealing. If someone was taking clicks or affiliate commissions after I gave their permission to do it, I couldn't call it stealing could I?

You're not scamming anyone - you're complying with the license under which the designer released the work.

 

Pretty weak argument. I don't care what the law say's technically. YOU know that the designer is not giving it away. Have some pride in yourself and do the right thing and pay people for their work, or don't use the work.

You want to get paid for your work, don't you?

You can argue the semantics all you want and say that I don't understand GPL..I do, but you don't understand business. Always looking for an angle or loop hole is not how people become successful...it's how you make enemies.

You can quote what you think GPL means, but the bottom line is, you know the themes are not meant to be downloaded for free.
and that is all that needs to be said. You know that Woo themes is not giving away themes and that they have not posted them for free download.

If you like their themes, then buy a developers license.

I can't teach you business ethics and morality if you don't know it by now, and I don't want to.
Again...this is the attitude of noobs. Taking a theme or script never crosses my mind, so I don't understand the mentality.

And to come on a webmaster forum and promote stealing from other webmasters is very short sighted.

Have fun screwing people out of their fee. Hope it never happens to you...actually, I do.

 

You obviously don't understand GPL, or you wouldn't be using words like "theft" and "stealing". I appreciate you don't agree with downloading them free, and I respect your opinion on it. But you are making yourself look like a fool by injecting your replies full of lies and assumptions.

It depends. The stuff I release under GPL, I don't expect to be paid for no. It gets your name out there though. If people download a Woo theme for free and need or want support, they are going to sign up to get access to that.

ZZZZZzzzzzzz.... yes anyone who buys something that they don't legally have to, must be a "noob".

 

You will get it one day.
You know you aren't really Al Capone right? You don't sound smart, you just sound cheap.

If you are so sure that you are right, how about a link to some of your sites using free downloads of premium themes. If you actually believe your own BS, then that shouldn't be a problem, right?

Because you are right and no one could possibly start legal action against you, right?
Everyone is a bad ass and a scholar when they are using a screen name. It's really easy to promote taking premium themes against the wishes of the designer when you don't use your real name to back up your assumptions.

waiting.

 

You can say I'm "not smart" but you're hardly making yourself look like an intellectual powerhouse with the "you know you aren't really Al Capone right?" comments, are you?

It isn't even deniable that I am right - please post proof that downloading or distributing something released under GPL is "theft" or "stealing". Do you really want me to go post proof from Woo Themes themselves? Would that satisfy you? There is ZERO anyone can do to me or anyone else, legally, for posting GPL themes.

 

You still don't get it. It's about having some ethics. You get what you give online and in business. Always remember that.
No reason that anyone should respect your right to be paid, if you don't respect anyone else's.

Really? Because I actually have a good relationship with Woo Themes, where as they probably hate you. That's a great way to be in business...having people despise you.

I wish you luck.
This conversation is going in circles.
Unsubscribed.

 

Oh yeah by the way, GPL is for the source code..not the CSS files, buttons, backgrounds and other graphics. Those are protected. Try using one without the other and you have no theme.

You are still in violation of copyright by taking and using a premium theme. Not to mention the proprietary widgets and back end framework that Woo has in their themes. All Designed.

Yes, things based on Worpdress source code would be GPL, but the things in the theme that are not based on Wordpress and are simply design issues. ARE NOT GPL !

And what about special functions such as flash and js effects,featured image sliders and so on. Things like that are not specific to Worpdress or based on the source code and many are proprietary in nature..those type of things are also not GPL.

Now go read up on that before you respond and tell me I'm wrong.

You aren't the first noob to come on here and try this argument based on a limited understanding of GPL. You can't just take the convenient parts of it and start telling people that they can download premium themes without any repercussions. You need to read the whole thing and particularly as it pertains to Wordpress themes and plug ins to understand ALL of it.
It's going to apply to different things in different situations. It's not a one size fits all..."everything is free" agreement.

You would think that just appealing to people having a certain amount of decency and business ethics should be enough, but apparently no one seems to have that anymore.

So yes, you are correct in that the files of the theme that are based on wordpress have to be released under GPL..so yes, you are free to use and distribute that part of the theme as you wish..which is basically the same framework as any other theme...actually you don't even need the theme, you can get that from Wordpress...but if you want the design...the graphics and such, you have to pay for it because it is protected.

So by downloading and using the theme in it's entirety without paying for it, you are wrong.

If you know so much about GPL, you would think that you would have read the biggest story concerning GPL and Wordpress and it would have saved you some time on this thread instead of showing people that you don't really understand it and trying to call me stupid.

http://www.newsden.net/wordpress-theme-thesis-goes-gpl-2078/
It's plain as day what is GPL and what is not and why Thesis had to relent, yet still can charge for the theme.
So now, are you going to go and steal Thesis? I'm pretty sure they will sue you.

 

It sounded fishy at first, but I think you are right. I guess the main reason people would choose to pay for wordpress themes is because.
1. To donate to designers.
2. To pay for convenience and support.

and wow, I just read the post above mine....Yeah its fishy..when in doubt, don't download.

 

Well, I guess that's one what of looking at it, but you are actually paying for the design as well. All the little buttons, social networking icons, background images, special functions and images that make up the whole. People designed that stuff and it has nothing to do with the Wordpress source code. That is why people charge for some themes...not to mention the support that comes with any reputable theme maker. Running support is also a time consuming expense.

But besides all of that, because some people are just going to download everything they can if they can get it for free....there is the risk. Obviously the downloads aren't put there by the theme designers, so what's in it for the people that violate copyright? Just being nice guys..some kind of internet Robin Hood?

OR do they know how many people will take it if you make it available and use it as an opportunity for install scripts, adware, viruses, click jacking scripts, and ,malware?

The easiest way to infect people is to offer up something that normally cost money, because our society has no morals when it comes to stuff like that. People are easy targets, because they are greedy. Plain and Simple.

If you could put Anthrax into a music download from a P2P site, half of the world would be dead right now..maybe more. Because some people just have an inherent need to try and get over on something and actually take pleasure in it..as if it takes some great intelligence.

People think that they are getting over, but on more than half of the the files out there from P2P and Warez sites, somebody is actually getting over on you. You can't scan for everything out there anymore. We all have stuff on our computer that will never clean out..where do you think it comes from? Installers are on a mission to infect computers.

Greed always bites you in the ass.

How may people have gotten a virus from downloading songs and movies from Limewire and other P2P sites because they couldn't be bothered to spend .99 cents? Was it worth it?

 

how is it free???? i tryed but i coundn't