Downloads: Extend to flat greeting cards + consider limited commercial use for sharing purposes

[Fiorenzo]

Found the time to dive a tad deeper into your download offers and I'm missing the option on flat cards plus the allowance of limited commercial use, mainly for the purpose of creating and sharing electronic greetings. In my opinion, these product and license additions could rise sales without hurting Zazzle or us designers. In detail:

Extend download option to flat greeting & holiday cards, and perhaps also to letterhead/stationery paper

Apparently, if I'm not wrong, the download option on certain types of flat cards (some invitation variants) is already given. Unfortunately, it's missed on regular flat greeting/holiday cards. For sharing purposes, downloadable flat cards make more sense than folded ones, since you have either just one (front) or max two (front & back) images to share.

Letterhead/stationery papers (paper sheets) also may make sense, because people may not want to spend 1, 2, or more $ per printed sheet but would likely spend let's say 10$ for a downloadable stationery design they can print on their printers at their own discretion. I'm aware, this could result in fewer physical purchases but it could also lead to more customers buying such products if provided digitally.

Extend license to limited commercial use for sharing purposes (e-cards)

Zazzle addresses not only private customers but also small businesses (see the whole business cards & stationery segment). Nowadays more and more businesses - like privates - send their wishes in digital formats on socials and via email and/or phone apps/messages.

All these small businesses willing to buy downloadable electronic cards are actually cut-off due to the license agreements being limited to private usage. IMO, these agreements should include a limited commercial usage of invites/greeting/holiday cards for sharing purposes (socials, emails, phone/messaging apps).

Thought about this both from the viewpoint of a customer and a designer/service provider. A personal opinion, of course. Thanks for evaluating.

[Mark]

Thank you for your suggestions here, @Fiorenzo.

I will let the team know now.

[Fiorenzo]

Thanks, Mark, have a great day!

[CreativeLeahG]

I'd consider a business buying to send to their clients as 'private use'. 

No different to buying a digital wedding invite to send to 200+ guests

Commercial use to my mind is buying the download for resale in some capacity.

[Fiorenzo]

@CreativeLeahG 

I know what you mean and I agree with your thoughts, but nope. Legally, it's commercial use. If you want to use any material in a business context you need a commercial license. Even using third-party material on your private website is considered commercial use, if you have ads on your site or offer other services that earn you money.

So, legally speaking, you need to add a respective paragraph in the license terms that allows this use. We did it, too, back when we sold imagery CDs/DVDs, explicitly allowing the use for illustration purposes also for small businesses.

Of course, you can silently imply such commercial use as the licensor, but no business holder will buy these downloads if the terms state private use only.

[CreativeLeahG]

@Fiorenzo 

I understand now, thank you for clarifying.

[Fiorenzo]

@CreativeLeahG 

Most welcome and thank you, too. I've always appreciated the helpful tips and tricks and funded knowledge you've shared with us.

[Connie]

Commercial use is opening up a whole can of worms! There are few enough people who respect the terms as it is, and saying commercial use gives everyone a blanket tacit approval to resell our designs everywhere an anywhere, even if in your mind it's "limited" to small business use. It is also CLEARLY against the terms for ALL the graphics sites, even the ones that allow some download options for transformative designs.

Adding a paragraph to explain that personal use would include small businesses is OK, as long as it's not called commercial use, but intended only for the private non-selling use of the business.

[Fiorenzo]

@Connie 

I get your concerns, Connie, but you misunderstood my post. I'm not saying, Zazzle shall replace the term "for Private Use" with "For Private and Commercial Use" or add a generic "allowed for commercial use" in the terms. All they have to do is change the "For Private Use" into a more neutral "Terms of Use" or "How can I use it", whatever sounds nice, with a link to the license terms, the part where they explain the dos and don'ts in a human language like they're doing now. Then add a paragraph that mentions that you can use downloadable greeting cards and invites for sharing on socials, via email, and messaging apps on phones also as a business. This way that makeup artist lady having already ordered business cards on Z can also create her digital Christmas cards and share them through socials with peace of mind.

That being said, "commercial use" comes in a wide variety of shapes and the first look has always to be understood in the relative context. For all the details there are regular terms that describe what you can do and what not. If you take stock photos as an example, you have usually standard and extended licenses. Both allow commercial use, but the first one usually forbids the use on PODs for resale as well as for multiple customers (if you are a graphic designer) and often limits the print runs of brochures/ads, while the extended one usually gives you the right to use the image for PODs and multiple projects/customers (graphic designers), and grants you unlimited print runs. Both licenses don't allow you to resell the image as-is on other stock photo platforms, as an example.

So, no, "commercial use" doesn't give you ANY tacit approval to resell our designs. Unless you explicitly allow it in the terms.

Be careful with the terms of image sources that don't allow or limit download usage. In these cases there is no difference between private and commercial usage of downloads - both are not allowed (unless otherwise specified) and you have to disable the option.

TBH I'm more concerned about "clever" customers downloading a poster design and then uploading it on blank create your own products to save the extra royalties. Didn't check the poster downloads yet, tho, and didn't check the terms in full detail.

Cheers!

[Fiorenzo]

@Mark 

Hi Mark, I have just noticed that digital downloads are possible on flat holiday cards. I used regular flat cards for my holiday ones to avoid the default 75 cards quantity being shown with the respective high price, that's why they aren't eligible. My bad. My suggestion stays, please extend to the regular basis Flat Cards. There is no sense in not doing so. Thank you!

Regarding the limited commercial use allowance, a little extra thought: you may let the personal use note stay to avoid confusion but you may add in the terms an extra paragraph that allows small businesses to SHARE  greeting and holiday cards on socials and in emails, e.g. for their Christmas, Mother's Day, Happy 4th of July, and other wishes. SHARE ONLY, NOT PRINTING. 

Thank you, and sorry for the hassles, I'm just thinking a tad further because I got confronted with such details already 25 years ago.

[Mark]

Hi @Fiorenzo,

I have noted your additional feedback now, thank you again!