Typography

Member lesson

Licensing, EULAs and what you are actually buying

Lesson 15 of 34 in Typography.

Font Licensing Explained · Harbor Bickmore
Lesson

You do not buy a typeface. You buy a licence to use a piece of software, under an end-user licence agreement en.wikipedia.org written by the foundry, and every foundry's is different. The retailers set out the shape of it plainly enough: MyFonts' own licensing FAQ myfonts.com describes desktop, webfont, app, electronic document and digital advertising as separate things you buy separately.

desktopcounted in peoplewebcounted in viewsapp · broadcastcounted per titleyou are buying permission, not a file
What a font licence counts: desktop seats, web page views, app titles.
A box of abstract letters in the centre surrounded by five small doors marked with a computer, browser, phone, paper and billboard, each with its own coloured key.
A box of letters sits behind five doors, and each door needs its own key. A font licence covers named uses such as desktop, web or apps, each bought separately.
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Members answer these 3 questions and keep the ticket for this lesson. Every lesson has one.

  1. Question 1, locked

    When you buy a typeface, what are you buying?

    • A licence to use it under stated terms
    • The software outright, to use however you like
    • The copyright in the letterforms
  2. Question 2, locked

    Which of these words means this? “The end-user licence agreement. The document that says what you may do with the font file, and the only document that matters.”

    • EULA
    • Exclusivity period
    • Custom typeface
    • Drawn, not set
  3. Question 3, locked

    Which of these words means this? “Permission to install the font on a stated number of computers and make artwork with it.”

    • Desktop licence
    • Superfamily
    • Entry point
    • Level

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