Theme License Frequently Asked Questions

We have only recently started checking stores for a license. Under Shopify’s Terms of Service, each theme purchase licenses one store. Shopify has not enforced this for us, so we now check stores ourselves, including stores that installed a theme years ago.

No. Shopify’s Theme Store requirements say a theme sold on the Shopify Theme Store can be sold only there, so we cannot sell our themes anywhere else. A copy from another marketplace is not licensed, and using it violates Shopify’s Terms of Service.

Tell whoever built your store about this rule and ask them to buy the theme for it. If they don’t, buy the theme yourself or remove it from your store completely. If you think they supplied an unlicensed copy, report them with the unlicensed theme distribution form.

Any web browser can show the source code of a website. Our themes contain code snippets and patterns that we recognize in that source code.

These Shopify sources confirm the rules in our email:

• Shopify’s Terms of Service, which set out its ‘one theme, one store’ policy and our intellectual property rights.
• Shopify’s Theme Store requirements, which say themes sold on the Shopify Theme Store cannot be sold on other marketplaces.

We also send legal notices to people who resell our themes without a license. To report a seller, use the unlicensed theme distribution form.

No. We can’t extend the deadline on request. We contact stores in batches, and every store gets the same time: 5 business days to buy the theme or remove it from the store.

You get theme support from our team, and you can update to the latest version of the theme for free through the Shopify Theme Store.

Not if you keep the theme version you have now. The purchase assigns a license to your store, and your installed theme can stay as it is.

If you want to use the version you bought instead, yes: set up your store again, as you would for any new theme.

No. You can keep using the version of the theme you have installed. The purchase assigns a license to your store.

No. We’re notified automatically, and your store then qualifies for free updates and theme support. To tell us directly anyway, email licenses@groupthought.com.

A DMCA notification can follow if the theme isn’t bought by the deadline in our first email (5 business days). From then on, only Shopify handles the case, not us. Follow the instructions in Shopify’s DMCA email so your store isn’t taken down.

If you can’t find an email from Shopify, check your junk folder. If it isn’t there, contact legal@shopify.com to have your store reinstated.

After a DMCA notification, Shopify’s legal team emails you a 24-hour deadline to resolve the issue, which means buying the theme. Once you’ve bought it, reply to that email to tell Shopify. If you don’t see the email, check your junk folder.

After a DMCA notice, only Shopify can bring your store back online, so reply to its email promptly.

We never share the information you give us publicly. We use the form details to protect your store from anti-piracy measures, such as DMCA takedown notices.