How to remove "Powered by Q2A and CleanStrap Theme" in CleanStrap Theme?

Question

I'm trying to remove "Powered by Q2A and CleanStrap Theme" but with no success. Can someone please help me?

Comments

Hello @andy1512005, you would actually need the approval of CleanStrap Theme's developer i.e. Towhid (@qa-themes) for this purpose. Removing credit link without the permission of developer is not right. If Towhid gives you the permission then anyone here can help you.

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that theme is open source, therefore, the credit can be removed without permission.

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On one hand, the fact that software is "open source" doesn't mean you can do whatever you want with the code. It is usually assumed that you just have access to the code. Being a bit more strict it would mean that the OSI (http://opensource.org/osd) has certified the license used.

On the other hand, the MIT license itself allows modifications and even to sublicense the software (https://github.com/Towhidn/CleanStrap/blob/17616f17ecd77cbb2ed6a1f1ccf520080164bd0a/LICENSE) under the only condition of including the copyrights and license.

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Think of it this way.   I improve the sw, I 'require' my link. Next guy improves it, requires his link, pretty soon you have 10 links at the bottom.

So... no, MIT license is about including copyrights (in source code) and license, not about links.  Saying s/w is MIT licensed but include the link is IMO not legalize.

Answer 1

Hello @andy1512005, surely the theme is open source but developers have the right to make the script open source but without giving permission to remove the credit link. Here is a screenshot of readme file from Cleanstrap github repo.

Answer 2

Q2A theme must be based on GPL or compatible license (e.g. MIT, etc). In these licenses, source modifications (including credit) is not restricted. Therefore, I think you can remove credit. Please note that my opinion is not based on legal grounds. However, this would be established theory in many open source product. Copyright provision will be "Please", not "Forcing".

Comments

Yes, it is more like 'please'.   I wonder how premium Wordpress themes bypass the open source licensing.

Answer 3

I wonder how people can eat good bread and then ask how to leave without saying thank you.

If you remove the link, you must write a special page of your own saying why you choosed the software and how to get the same with all the links. It's not forbidden to add that you can help for a new installation for free or for fees. And don't forget to add the page link to a menu of the index.page .

In fact, doing that with your own words ( not a copy paste ) is better for QA indexation and doesn't cost anything to your site.

Answer 4

We got into licensing discussions and all...

But your question is how to remove the link.  How about searching in the files for "Powered by Q2A and CleanStrap Theme" and just comment out the <a href around it?

Answer 5

As developer of this product I will not call on any legal action or go on a manhunt if you remove the attribution link(not that I don't want to :D ). so if you truly need to remove the attribution and can't pay 20$ to have the rights, just do it and don't feel bad about it.

although it would still be more ethical if you could add our link to your website's "About" page as a way of saying thank you.

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to remove or change the footer link edit "inc/blocks.php" in your theme directory and search for our attribution link to replace or remove it. it is currently located in line 867.

Comments

What is it about this 20$? Is there a paid version?

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The theme is free to use, but if you can donate $20 for the work he has done then it would be good. For this reason that $20 link is there.
Otherwise there is no paid version.

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Ok, I am ready to pay 20$ for this fantastic software but where is the link ? (yes I know I must look stupid but I did not find the link...)

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You can pay him here.
http://qa-themes.com/shop/cleanstrap