What Assets Can I Use In My Items?

What are assets?

Assets are components that form part of your item. Your item is the product you are making available on Envato to be licensed to your customers.

When creating content for Envato, you may want to include assets within your item that you didn’t make yourself. This article serves as a guide to explain what assets you can use in your items, as well as some intellectual property considerations you’ll need to be aware of.

• For example, if you create a Travel Agency Wordpress Theme, you may want to populate your item preview (also known as a ‘demo’) with different travel themed photos, so the customer can see what their end product might look like. In this case your item is a WordPress Theme and assets are the photos used in your preview.

When thinking about assets, remember that different rules apply depending on where your assets are used. As a rule of thumb, you should only include assets in your item previews which you own or have the license to use commercially, and in your main items which you own or are licensed to use and resell.

If you are a Template Kit author please see the Wordpress Template Kit Requirements for more information on your assets.

The Rules

You should only use assets in your items that you own or have a sufficient license for the use.

1. In order to include an asset you did not create yourself in your item download, you need to have an appropriate redistribution license (the rights to resell that asset under the applicable Envato License)
2. In order to use an asset you did not create yourself in your item preview only, you still need to have an appropriate commercial license.

Always read the license of the asset you are using to make sure you can use it as you plan to, and there is nothing that might prohibit you from using that asset in or on an item uploaded to Envato.

What Assets can I use in my Item Download?

Assets that are included in the ZIP file of your item and are distributed to customers when they make a purchase are referred to as assets in item download.

• You can only include assets in your item download if you have the appropriate redistribution license to distribute that asset under the applicable Envato license.

To learn more please read assets in download FAQs

What Assets can I use in my Item Preview?

Assets that are used for demonstration purposes only are referred to as assets in item preview and should not be included in the item download. The term item preview covers both previews and live demos of an Envato Market item, regardless of where they are hosted.

• Assets used in item previews need to be properly licensed for commercial use.
  • As the asset is not being resold or redistributed, you will not need a re-sale or re-distribution license as you would for use of that asset in the main file. However, you will still need a license for a commercial use (reproduction) for use within the preview.
• You need to clearly state in the item description that the asset/s are for preview purposes only and are not included in the purchase of the item.
• You can use watermarked Envato Market assets, as long as you credit the author and link to the original item page in your item description.
  • For example, if you are a Video author, you can use a watermarked Audio track in the preview of your video item only in the item preview, if you credit the AudioJungle author by including the title and username in your item description.
  • You’ll also need to state that the asset is for preview purposes only and is not included in the purchase of the item.
  • Please see instructions below on how to add a credit to your descriptions.
• You can use non-watermarked Envato Market assets if you buy a Regular License. You don’t need to credit the author and link back to the original item, but it’s highly encouraged!
• You can use a third-party (non-Envato) asset in your item preview if you have licensed it from a service which gives you this right. This is a commercial use license and you are responsible for ensuring that you have the correct license for this purpose.
• If you take your own photos for use within your Envato Market items you’ll need to get your own model releases from the people in them.

Remember that you need to state in the description that the asset is for preview purposes only and is not included in the purchase of the item.

What is not allowed?

• You can’t include unlicensed assets anywhere in your item, whether preview or item download.
• You can’t resell another Envato item as your own item; there is no Envato license that would allow this.
• You can’t resell an open source or GPL work as is, as your own.
  • You must have added enough value to the asset so that your item can be considered original and unique.
• Assets licensed for preview use only cannot be included in item download.
  • A commercial license does not necessarily mean redistribution; read the license terms carefully.
• You can’t include items downloaded from Envato Elements in your item download.
• You can’t use watermarked assets from other sites.
• You can’t use photos of famous people.
  • You cannot use photos of famous people in items or previews. Market items and their previews are thought of as commercial activity. Consequently, no photos of famous people, sportspeople, musicians, DJs or anyone else who earns their living from having a public presence (even if these people are no longer alive) can be included. Photos like these can be used in ‘editorial’ situations like a news website or blog, but not on the Envato Market.

To learn more please read assets in preview FAQs.

FAQs - Assets in Item Download

• Can I incorporate another Envato Author’s item as an asset within my Envato item?

  You may use another Envato Author’s Market item as an asset within your item download provided all of the following criteria are met;

  • You have purchased an extended license (applicable only for themes, code, graphics and 3D items).
  • Written permission has been granted from the owner of the ‘asset’. Please keep a written copy of this permission.
  • Envato Market assets cannot be resold as is, the asset must be incorporated into a larger, original item.

  The Envato Elements terms do not allow the distribution of an Elements item in a stock project, therefore Market authors cannot download Elements items to use within their Market Items.

  If you are a Template Kit author please see the Wordpress Template Kit Requirements for more information on your assets.

• Can I use non-Envato photos of people in my item download?

  Photos of people are allowed in item download provided that:

  1. You obtained an appropriate license to redistribute that photo under the Envato licenses
  2. Photos of identifiable people must have a model release, as your Envato item is a commercial use. If you took the photo yourself, you need to obtain a signed model release.
  3. Photos of famous people are not allowed.

• Can I use open source or GPL assets in my item?

  You may use open source or GPL assets, however you need to ensure that the license for a specific asset allows you to use it in a way you intend. Open source licenses vary in what they do and don’t allow.

  To ensure a fair playing field, we do not accept items that could be downloaded for free by a customer elsewhere, with little or no value addition. This means you cannot submit open source/GPL items as your own, unless significant changes and improvements are made to make your item unique and distinguishable from the open source project.

  If your project is based on a GPL or open source item, you also need to be transparent in your item description where your open-source assets came from. For GPL assets, you also need to ensure you are in line with the terms of the GPL and have included the GPL license in a txt. file with the item.

  Read more: GPL and Split Licensing

• Can I use Creative Commons assets?

  Yes, but read on! Every Creative Commons license has a short name and description which explains in a simple way what that license allows and doesn’t allow. There is also a full legal license if you wish to read it thoroughly. Not all CC licenses are appropriate for content that you intend to use in or on a market item, so you have to pay attention to the license type. The licenses you can use for assets in the download:

  • CC0 for images that do not contain people or property
  • Public Domain

• Can I include trademarks or real world products in my item download?

  For comprehensive guidelines please refer to the Trademark and Real-World Product Rules, or if you just need a summary; see rules for your item type

• Can I use pre-existing audio loops samples in my Audio tracks?

  Yes, however for comprehensive do’s and don’ts when using pre-existing audio loops please see Using Pre-existing audio loops

FAQs - Assets in previews

• Can I embed a video in my item preview?

  Check the terms of the video sharing site; for example YouTube and Vimeo allow clips to be embedded under certain conditions.

  The most common license available that can be used in your video previews is the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license (CC BY 4.0). You can use videos licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution license as long as you attribute the original creator somewhere in the submission's description. To attribute the original creator, insert a link back to the original source material.

  When choosing a video please keep in mind that content still needs to be appropriate for the item preview and should not contain trademarks or identifiable people.

• Can I use Creative Commons assets in my preview?

  Yes, but read on! Every Creative Commons license has a short name and description which explains in a simple way what that license allows and doesn’t allow. The full text license is the official version if you wish to read it thoroughly. Not all CC licenses are appropriate for content that you intend to use in or on a market item, so you have to pay attention to the license type. The licenses you can use for assets in the preview:

  • CC0
  • Public Domain
  • Attribution, CC BY - provided that you attribute and link back to the original item in item description as required by the license.

• Can I use AudioJungle music in a preview of my video?

  Yes you may use a watermarked AudioJungle track in your preview, please remember that:

  1. You need to include the link to the track used and the authors username in your item description.
  2. You need to state in your description that the music is not included in the download, it is for preview purposes only.
  3. Please also tick the “AudioJungle Item used in preview” box on the “Edit Page” of the item and enter in the Item ID of the AudioJungle item.

• How do I “credit” another Author, if i use their watermarked item in my item preview?

  Go to your Edit Item page, and In your “Item Description” field, enter the item link and the name of the Author it’s by. Please also tick the “AudioJungle Item used in preview” box and enter in the Item ID of the AudioJungle item.

  If you are also a Video author on Elements, and using an AudioJungle authors track, to ensure the credit is also visible on Envato Elements, you need to:

  1. Add the Item ID into the “Audio Attribution” section in your Item Edit page on Market, as above.
  2. Also write this item ID and the author’s username into the ‘text description’ field. HTML is not supported on Elements, so you have to add the text into the text description box.
  3. State clearly in the text description field that the music item itself is not included in the main download

• Can I include trademarks or real world products in my item preview?

  For comprehensive guidelines please refer to the Trademark Rules.

• What about assets used in my live demo?

  The item preview rules also apply for live demos of an Envato Market item, regardless of where they are hosted - assets used in live demos need to be properly licensed for commercial use.

• What about assets used within a one click demo import?

  Any assets which are imported to the customer site require appropriate licensing for redistribution. If these assets are licensed for preview only, you must ensure that you clearly state in the description that the asset is for preview purposes only and is not included in the purchase of the item.