Envato Market Author Terms

Last revised: March 11, 2025

About us and these terms

1. Welcome: Hi, we’re Envato and welcome to Envato Market, an online marketplace for digital items created by designers and other creatives from around the world. We’re really glad you’re keen on becoming an Author with us.

2. Author Terms: By becoming an Author, you agree that these Author Terms, which supplement and form part of the Envato Market User Terms, are a legally binding agreement between us and you. Please take the time to read these Author Terms and check them regularly as they may be amended from time to time. If you do not agree to all of the Author Terms and the Envato Market User Terms, you should not become an Author.

3. Definitions and interpretation: Any capitalized terms will have the meanings set out in the Definitions section of these Author Terms or, if not defined in these Author Terms, have the meanings given to them in the Envato Market User Terms (unless the context requires otherwise). If there are any inconsistencies between these Author Terms and other applicable Envato terms, these Author Terms will prevail in relation to your activities as an Author.

Becoming an Author

4. Becoming an Author is free: Becoming an Author and making your Items available on Envato Market is free but there is a review process. There are a few things you warrant in exchange for the right to be an Author, which are outlined in these Author Terms and our other applicable terms and policies.

5. Process to become an Author: In our Author Help Center you’ll find instructions and resources to get started as an Author (including how to sign up, Author ID checks and how to start selling), along with information about payment, submission requirements and other important details about being an Author.

6. Information and documents required: To become an Author you will need to provide information and documents so we can process and verify your application. This information may include your name, address, email address, phone number, date of birth, a government-issued photo ID document, payment information and certain tax and business information. If you do not provide the required information or we are unable to verify that information then we cannot approve your application. By providing the required information, you consent to us collecting, verifying, using, storing and displaying on our sites and products certain information about you, including to: 

a. process your application to be an Author; 

b. verify your identity and, if relevant, your business registration; 

c. provide our support services to Authors and other Users and respond to queries, feedback, claims or disputes; 

d. provide you with the right to access and use Envato Market and our other sites and products; 

e. help you publish Items or other information on Envato Market or our other sites and products; 

f. display Author information on our sites as required by applicable law; and 

g. make such disclosures as may be required for any of the above purposes or as required by applicable law, for tax or payment purposes or in respect of any claims or potential claims brought against any Group Company. 

7. Application approval and access: If we believe the information or documents you provide are inaccurate, incomplete, or not up-to-date, we may ask you to fix it without delay. Should you fail to do so or if we reasonably believe you are violating these Author Terms or our other applicable terms or policies or any applicable laws, we may refuse to approve your application and we reserve the right to suspend, disable or terminate your account and access to our services.

How licensing your Items works

8. Licensing and support: What you're providing:

a. License: When you “sell” an Item, you’re making your Item available to Buyers to license that Item under certain conditions; you’re not actually selling the Item itself. What you’re “selling” is a license directly to those Buyers to use that Item under the relevant license options that we set.

For the different types of licenses and details about what rights you are licensing, see our licensing page. It’s important to understand how your work will be licensed!

b. Item support: You can choose whether or not to support certain Items. If you choose to support an Item, this will be identified on the Item page. All supported Items include a support period. Buyers can buy support extensions on these Items if you offer such extensions.

To understand Item support, like what Items are covered, what you agree to provide Buyers, the support period and support extension options, see the Item support policy page.

9. Exclusivity: When you become an Author, you can choose to make your Items available exclusively on Envato Market or to retain the ability to sell your Items elsewhere. The percentage of revenue you receive from each sale of your Item will vary depending on your choice (as explained below). If you’re an exclusive Author on Envato Market, you can also be an author on Envato Elements and Placeit without impacting your Author fee or exclusivity. You can change the exclusivity status of your account at any time. See our Exclusivity Policy for more information.

10. Setting the prices of Items: As an Author, you are responsible for setting the prices for your Items. This is known as ‘Author Driven Pricing’. You must make all pricing decisions independently, and discussions about your pricing decisions (including with other Authors) are not permitted under any circumstances. See our Author Driven Pricing article for more information.

11. Review: We have rules about what we accept and don’t accept and you can read up on how the review process works. Although we always like to provide constructive feedback we’re not obliged to give you any reasons for rejecting your Item. We have the final say on whether Items are accepted for Envato Market.

12. No variation: You are not permitted to: 

a. vary these Author Terms (or the Envato Market User Terms) as they include terms that apply between you and Buyers; or 

b. offer your Items on different terms or with additional terms (for example, through your Item description pages). Any different or additional terms that you try to impose on Envato Market on your Items will have no effect against Buyers or Envato.

How do payments of earnings work

These sections explain how earning an income works on Envato Market and important information about payments to your account, and deductions from your account. Take a close look!

13. Your earnings; Author fee: When your Item is sold on Envato Market, you will earn the Item price component of the List price (as set forth in the Envato Market User Terms) less an Author fee that we charge. The Author fee is what you are charged by Envato for use of our platform and services as an Author. The Author fee is determined by whether you are selling the Item only on Envato Market exclusively and by the aggregate value of list price sales you’ve had in the past. The Author fee charged is set out in the rates schedule that we can change at our discretion, from time to time. Any changes to these rates will take effect on the later of 30 days after the date on which notice of the updated rates is posted by us on Envato Market or the date we notify you of the updated rates by email. You can close your Envato account at any time if you do not agree with the changes. 

14. Earnings payment:

a. We will pay you the Item price component of the total Item price less the Author fee (‘your earnings’ or ‘earnings’). In order for us to do this, you authorize us to collect payments, to credit your Envato account with your earnings, and to payout your earnings to you. We may use another Group Company or third party provider to do any of these things for us.

b. To avoid any confusion, only your earnings from the sale of your Items (and for Authors who are also Envato Affiliates, referral income under our separate Affiliate Program) will be payable to you.

c. We will only pay your earnings in accordance with these Author Terms once your unpaid earnings have reached the minimum threshold amount of USD$50. For more information see our Help Center.

15. Compensation for permitted use of an Item: Where Envato receives a payment for a permitted use of an Item by a third party other than through Envato Market, Authors will be compensated for these uses. 

16. Earnings payment timing and methods:

a. You ask us to hold the balance of your earnings until they are paid out to you. You can set up an automatic payment destination which must be owned by you. Where your earnings reach certain minimum threshold amounts, we will make monthly payouts of your earnings to your payment destination.

b. When we get a request for payment, we’ll pay you at the next payment cycle as stated on our Author Help Center page.

c. You must provide us with the correct details and payment method when you set your payment destination.

d. We reserve the right to pay your earnings to you, at any time, at our reasonable discretion, notwithstanding any other provision of these Author Terms.

e. You may bear some or all expenses incurred by us (including from third party payment providers) in paying monies to you.

17. Potential deductions:

a. Payment methods available for Buyers to buy your Items involve payment agents that have their own standard terms and conditions regarding refunds, chargebacks, fees and unauthorised transactions (which we don’t control). If an Envato Market transaction on an Item is subject to payment agents’ refunds, chargeback, fees or unauthorized transactions, we may automatically deduct those amounts from your Envato account without notice.

b. You or we may also decide to issue a refund to a Buyer in certain circumstances involving issues with your Item outlined in the Envato Market Refund Rules, or transactions that may be reversed for other reasons. If that happens, we reserve the right to deduct from your Envato account any amount that would otherwise be payable to you.

c. If you breach any warranty you have made to us and/or a Buyer we may offset any amount that we have to pay to anyone else as a result of your breach, against any payments due to you.

18. Payment errors: We will continue to hold your earnings if we’re not able to pay your earnings to you for whatever reason, including if:

a. we do not have the correct payment details;

b. we can’t contact you using the contact details that you have supplied;

c. you have not made a request for payment; or

d. you are asking for payment to be made to a person, an institution or a country that we’re legally prohibited from making payments to, or where there are limitations in the banking systems.

19. Currency: Your earnings will be paid to you in US dollars. You are responsible for all costs of currency conversion relating to your earnings. Your financial institution does the currency conversion and may charge you additional fees outside our control.

20. Holding earnings: We may hold any earnings on Items that do not comply with any of our terms, policies or guidelines or your account for up to two years (acting reasonably), and may release those held earnings during that period if we are satisfied that any dispute or issue about your Item or account has been resolved. If a dispute or issue is not resolved within this period or a payment is prohibited by law or otherwise restricted, your unpaid earnings may be forfeited.

Taxes

21. Your responsibility for taxes: You are responsible for collecting and paying all taxes associated with your use of, and your transactions on, Envato Elements. Your responsibility includes any transaction taxes and withholding taxes, except to the extent we collect and remit that tax in accordance with sections 22 and 23.

22. Transaction taxes: In any jurisdiction where we are required to collect and/or pay any GST, VAT, sales tax or other taxes that apply to transactions on Envato Elements, you acknowledge and agree that:

a. we may add the applicable tax, or make an appropriate adjustment, to the amount payable;

b. we will generally display the tax amount at checkout or on an applicable invoice, and it will be included in the total amount payable; and

c. we will collect this tax amount via any means available to us, and remit the tax to the relevant authority.

23. Withholding taxes: We may deduct or withhold from any amount payable to you under these Author Terms, including your earnings, an amount sufficient to satisfy any taxes (including withholding taxes) which we are required to withhold under applicable law. The rate of withholding taxes will depend on the jurisdiction where you are located and whether or not an applicable tax treaty exists. You are required to pay the full amount of any amount payable by you under these Author Terms and may not deduct any applicable taxes (including withholding taxes) from that amount, unless otherwise specified in an agreement with us or an invoice we issue.

24. Tax information: From time to time, we may request or collect information or documentation from you that may be used for tax purposes, including location information for tax residency purposes. Tax rates are calculated based on this information and the applicable tax rate at the relevant time. Any information you provide must be accurate, complete and kept up-to-date. If you do not provide or update any required information or documentation, we may withhold payments to you.

Please see our Author Help Center for more details relating to Author tax requirements.

If you have any questions or require more information about your tax obligations, please contact your local tax authority, or seek independent tax advice. We cannot provide you with tax advice.

Your representations, warranties and responsibilities

As an Author you have responsibilities to us and Buyers of your Items. Take a moment to understand your responsibilities!

25. Your warranties to us and Buyers: As an Author you represent, warrant and covenant to us and each Buyer of your Items that:

a. the Item conforms to the policies, guidelines and requirements set out in the Author Help Center (including Quality and Technical Requirements and policies and terms relevant to your Item);

b. the Item matches the description given by you on the Item preview page, as well as any Item preview;

c. you will honor any express warranties given to Buyers that are not contained in the Envato Market User Terms;

d. you have all rights, licenses, releases, consents and authorizations necessary to license that Item on the terms of the applicable license, and to make any content available on your Item description or Item preview available for publication;

e. the Buyer's use of that Item in accordance with the terms of the applicable license, and our use of that Item in accordance with these Author Terms, does not infringe any rights (including intellectual property rights) of someone else;

f. you will process a Buyer’s data, including without limitation personal data, in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, which include but are not limited to Regulation (EU) 2016/679 known as the General Protection Data Regulation (EU) as updated, superseded or amended from time to time; 

g. the Item and its description are not false, inaccurate, misleading, fraudulent, unlawful or defamatory;

h. the Item and its preview and description do not violate any applicable law or regulation (including those governing export control, consumer protection, unfair competition, criminal law, pornography, anti-discrimination, trade practices or fair trading);

i. the Item does not contain viruses or other computer codes, files or programs which are designed to limit or destroy the functionality of other computer software or hardware;

j. if your Item includes a use of a model, location or property, where relevant, you have obtained a valid and binding model, location or property release from the model, or the owner or licensor of the location/property for any Items requiring such a release and you must:

i. comply with all policies, guidelines and requirements in respect of use of models, locations and properties, including our model and property release policy, that are necessary for capturing model and property releases;

ii. retain copies of all releases and provide those copies to us upon request;

iii. provide a privacy notice to the model, making the model aware of their personal information that you will receive and how you will handle that information;

iv. obtain the model’s permission to use their personal information;

v. use the personal information only for the limited purposes for which the model gave permission; and

vi. comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including without limitation any privacy and spam law requirements that apply to you.

26. Buyer warranties also apply to Clients: If you make your Items available on Envato Market for free, then the representations and warranties you make to Buyers also apply to anyone who downloads that free Item from Envato Market. In certain circumstances as set out in the applicable Envato Market License, we may allow a Buyer to purchase an Item for a third party (for example, when an agency purchases an Item to be used in a client project), and in this case you also agree that these warranties apply to the third party for whom the Item is purchased (Clients).

27. Your representations and warranties to us: As an Author you represent, warrant and covenant to us that:

a. you are 18 years of age or over;

b. you will not use Envato Market to offer non-Envato goods or services to Buyers;

c. you will not buy your own Items;

d. you will follow any Author guidelines provided by us, act in good faith, and provide assistance and co-operation as we reasonably request;

e. you will not use any Envato Intellectual Property, including any trademark or trade name, without our prior written consent or as expressly permitted under these Author Terms or our trade mark guidelines;

f. information and documentation you give us (including your name, address, email address, phone number and, if applicable, government-issued photo ID document and tax and business registration details) is accurate, complete and up-to-date; 

g. you are not located in a country which is subject to international sanctions and are not on a sanctioned persons list; 

h. you will not use a virtual private network or VPN or any other means to avoid compliance with these Author Terms, or for any fraudulent or illegal reasons; and

i. where you have marked an Item as 'supported', you will provide Buyers (and/or their Clients) of your Item with support for the included support period and any support extension period purchased, unless we agree otherwise.

28. Other Authors and Envato affiliates’ use of your Item: An Envato affiliate can use your Item thumbnail previews in their promotion of Envato Market and no compensation is due for these uses. A fellow Author may use a watermarked preview of your Item in a preview of another Item on any Group Company site without requiring your permission and without compensating you. The watermarked Item is credited either by providing a link to your Item on Envato Market or by otherwise attributing your Envato Market Item to you.

29. Our rights to use and sublicense use of your Item: We may:

a. use the whole or part of your Items;

i. to promote Envato or any Group Company, for example, in public relations, emails, on a features page, or on other sites and platforms (including on social media channels); and

ii. to develop and use, and allow the Group Companies to develop and use, new services, features and products (which may include granting sub-licenses to prospective licensees for the purpose of developing new services, features and products); and

b. use and sublicense to licensees or prospective licensees of Envato and the Group Companies the right to use the whole or part of your Items to develop new services, products and features and for Envato, the Group Companies, our licensees or prospective licensees (and the respective customers of each), to use those services, products and features in perpetuity (including the right to create derivative works developed by or for those services, products and features) but does not include the right for licensees or prospective licensees to publicly perform, communicate to the public, or publicly display or broadcast the Item,

in each case, including the right to sub-license these rights to the Group Companies to do the same.

30. Item removal: We have the right to remove an Item for any reason, using our reasonable discretion and at any time with or without notice. For example, we may review our libraries and content categories to keep Envato Market fresh and full of quality Items that meet the latest technical standards and market trends, or in another case, issues about an Item might be brought to our attention such as errors, representations, or even a breach of these Author Terms or third party rights. Our goal is always to address these situations with you constructively. We may give you notice before an Item is removed, but this is not always feasible or possible, so we can’t guarantee this. We will not be responsible for any loss that you may suffer as a result of your Item being removed.

31. Copyright infringement: 

a. If you would like to submit a notification of alleged infringement of your Items on Envato Market sites, you must first send us a DMCA takedown notice pursuant to our DMCA Policy.

b. In the event Envato receives a notification of alleged infringement about one or more of your Items, Envato may suspend access to any or all of your Items pursuant to our DMCA Policy.

c. If you knowingly or repeatedly submit copyright infringement claims and takedown notices to Envato that we consider in our reasonable discretion to be false, Envato reserves the right to disable or delete your Envato account with no further notice to you.

32. Indemnity: You agree to indemnify and hold harmless each Group Company from and against any and all losses, costs (including legal costs), expenses, demands, settlement damages or liability that a Group Company incurs arising out of, or in connection with, a third party claim against a Group Company alleging that any Items you provide, license or otherwise made available on Envato Market infringes, misappropriates or otherwise violates any third party’s rights, including intellectual property rights and rights of publicity.

33. Buyers’ use of your Item: We are not liable for any loss suffered by you as a result of a Buyer, a Client or any other person making use of your Item contrary to these Author Terms, the Envato Market User Terms or the Item’s license. IN THE EVENT OF AN ISSUE OR DISPUTE REGARDING AN ITEM IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO DIRECTLY CONTACT OR RESPOND TO THE BUYER AND TRY TO AMICABLY RESOLVE THE ISSUE OR DISPUTE.

Special arrangements

34. Special deals and promotions: Sometimes we might negotiate volume sales or other arrangements with Buyers as part of creating business development opportunities for Authors (special deals). We might also offer pricing promotions to Buyers that involve a change in the Author fee or licensing terms (special promotions). While you are generally responsible for setting the prices for your Items, you give us permission to negotiate and implement special deals and special promotions and acknowledge and agree that we may do so in accordance with the following sections.

35. Impact on Item price and Author earnings: Given the nature of special deals, the prices of your Items under the special deal may vary from the advertised List price. This means that your earnings on the sale of your Items in a special deal may not always be determined by reference to the advertised price of your Item on Envato Market. Given the nature of special deals and special promotions, the Author fee may differ for special deals or special promotions.

36. Information regarding special deals and promotions: Before your Item is included in a special deal or special promotion, we’ll provide you with information about the special deal or special promotion, Item pricing and Author fee. You can opt out of participating in a special deal or special promotion if the deal involves a change to the Author fee. We will let you know the time frame to opt out, and if you don’t do so, your Item will be included in the special deal or special promotion.

37. Supplementary licensing arrangements: Special deals and special promotions might also involve you entering supplementary licensing arrangements to allow the Buyer to use your Item in particular ways. If these supplementary licenses are substantially different from the standard Envato Market licenses, you will also have the opportunity to opt out of participating in the special deal or special promotion within the time frame we set out when we make the offer to you.

You can opt out of any special deal or special promotion if it involves a change to the Author fee. We decide all other details, including pricing.

Termination

38. Suspension or termination: We hope that you will be with us for a long time. But we may, using our reasonable discretion, decide whether or not your actions comply with these Author Terms. We can suspend or terminate your participation as an Author on Envato Market at any time for any reason (acting reasonably), including:

a. if you breach these Author Terms or any other applicable terms or policies;

b. if we believe any information or documents provided by you are inaccurate, incomplete, or not up-to-date;

c. if you breach any applicable laws, rules or regulations;

d. If you act in a way that does not align with the values of our community including: 

i. engaging in serious or illegal misconduct (such as criminal or fraudulent activities); or

ii. infringing the intellectual property rights of others; or

iii. breaching our Community Guidelines; or

e. if you act in a way that could cause harm to any Group Company or any user of a site operated by a Group Company, including: 

i. any public conduct or activity (such as public communications) that would adversely affect the reputation of any Group Company; and/or

ii. any threats of harm or damage to any user of a product or service of a Group Company.

If we decide to terminate your Envato account you must not apply for a new account as you will no longer be welcome in our community. This decision may also apply to your use of other sites (as an author or a user) operated by any Group Company. Authors have the right to raise any concerns using our complaint-handling system if they are suspended or denied access to Envato Market. Additionally, we may cancel unverified accounts or accounts that have been inactive for a substantial period of time.

Miscellaneous

39. Relationship between the parties: Nothing in these Author Terms is to be construed as constituting a partnership, joint venture, employment or agency relationship between you and any Group Company, or between you and any other User. You cannot act on behalf of or bind a Group Company or any other User in any way. However, you appoint Envato and our Group Companies as your limited agent only for:

a. receiving payments from Buyers (the Buyer's obligation to pay you for an Item will be met when they make a payment to us or a Group Company);

b. passing on your warranties to Buyers, including those in section 18 of the Envato Market User Terms;

c. limiting your liability to Buyers, including under sections 19 and 20 of the Envato Market User Terms.

40. Changes to these terms: We may change these Author Terms at any time.  We will post the current version of these Author Terms on our website and will update the “Last revised” date at the top of these Author Terms.  We will provide you with reasonable prior notice of any changes to the Author Terms that materially adversely affect your rights or your use of Envato’s services, before they take effect. We may provide you this notice via our website and/or by email to the email address associated with your Envato account. You can also keep track of whether changes have been made by referring to the version and effective date of the Author Terms. By continuing to use Envato’s services after the effective date of the changes, you agree to be bound by the updated Author Terms. If you do not agree with the changes, you may close your Envato account.

41. Entire agreement:  These Author Terms, together with the Envato Market User Terms and the other terms referenced therein and herein, constitute the entire agreement between you and Envato with respect to Envato Market. 

42. Notices: For any notice or queries regarding an Item or your Envato account, you must submit your notice or request via a help request. If you have a specific question about these Author Terms, please contact terms@help.envato.com with the subject line ‘Envato Market Author Terms’. Any notice we send to you may be provided via our website and/or by email to the email address associated with your Envato account.

Definitions

Author, you or your: a Member who makes Items available for sale on Envato Market.

Author Terms: the Envato Market Author Terms set out in this document.

Buyer: a Member who buys a license to one or more Items on Envato Market.

Envato, we, us or our: Shutterstock, Inc.

Envato Market: the Envato digital marketplaces, including all features, functionalities, websites, software, Items and other content associated with those marketplaces, including those available at these sites (or any successor sites):

Group Companies: Envato and any company that controls, is controlled by or is under common control with Envato. References to a Group Company include any successors (whether by merger, purchase or otherwise) and permitted assigns.

Items: the digital goods made available to Envato for use and license in accordance with these Author Terms and includes any associated files, documentation and metadata, and any other content you upload or provide to Envato under these Author Terms.

Item support: the support provided by you to Buyers of Items you choose to support, as detailed in the Item support policy.

Member: a User who registers and maintains an account with us, whether or not they are a Buyer.

User: each person who accesses or uses Envato Market, whether or not they are an Author or Member.

Go forth and author!

We’re very glad you’ve made it to the end of this important document. You can head over to the Author Help Center which covers all the relevant information about the practical and operational stuff you’ll need to know.

We wish you all the very best in selling your Items on Envato Market!