Understanding Font Licences
What is a Font Licence?
A font licence is a legal agreement that grants you permission to use a specific font under defined conditions. Fonts are intellectual property protected by copyright law, and using them without proper authorization can result in legal action.
The terms of a font licence specify how you are allowed to use a font, including any restrictions on user numbers, types of media, and distribution. Understanding and adhering to a font licence is essential for legal compliance and to support ethical design practices.
Common Pitfalls to Look Out For
Different suppliers approach font licensing in very different ways. It’s important to examine their terms and limitations carefully, as subtle restrictions can significantly impact design flexibility, administrative overhead, and overall project costs.
Common pitfalls you might encounter in licences from other suppliers include:
- Device Limits: Counting a single user with multiple devices (e.g. desktop, laptop, printer) as multiple licensed units.
- Product Restrictions: Preventing the use of fonts on merchandise or products intended for resale, like mugs or keyrings.
- Logo Restrictions: Requiring additional payments for using fonts in logotypes.
- Media Restrictions: Imposing extra fees for specific use cases beyond everyday desktop or web usage, such as broadcast media.
- Excluded Industries: Forbidding font usage in specific sectors, like power generation or public transportation.
- Geographic Limitations: Restricting use geographically or requiring licences per location, complicating global projects.
- No Self-Hosting: Mandating use of a supplier’s own webfont hosting service, with potential GDPR implications.
- Credit Requirements: Requiring fonts and foundries to be explicitly credited in every project.
- Extensive Reporting Requirements: Requiring detailed, ongoing reports of all font usage.
- Non-Transferrable Licensing: Restricting licence transfers even within an organization during restructuring or mergers.
- Hidden Costs: Including unexpected charges, like annual renewal fees or usage-based royalties.
The Dalton Maag Difference
We have worked hard to make the licensing for our font library as transparent and user-friendly as possible. Our licences actively avoid these restrictive practices so you can design and deploy with confidence.