Suggested font licensing best practices

Reduce risks of liability and implement steps towards licensing compliance

EULAs are not exactly the easiest things to read, so many users do not read them thoroughly or do not read them at all. A 2018 survey by Extensis concluded that 80% of users don’t regularly read EULAs, and 78% are still confused about EULA terms after reading them. That’s 62,4% of font users who don’t read or understand font EULAs. Furthermore, approximately 32% of designers admitted to “locating” a copy of a font online for use in the comping process. We respectfuly suggest you not be a part of these percentages.

Implementing some best practices in a workflow helps create a work environment that makes businesses sustainable, teams empowered, and is beneficial to all parties involved.

1. Implement a font purchase policy. Please review it and follow it.

A font purchase process and policy establishes who makes the purchase and how and where the licensing information is recorded. Run an audit to confirm the licensing status of your font library.

Our standard EULA makes your font purchase policy easier and covers the whole company by default.

2. Understand font EULAs

We have carefully considered every word of our standard EULA and strive to make it easy to read. If anything in the EULA is not clear, contact us for clarification.

3. Transfer fonts properly

Understand if and how fonts can be moved around and outside your office by reading our dedicated section on Sharing fonts. We have worked on our EULA to accommodate most ways fonts can circulate with reasonable flexibility.

4. Create comps with licensed fonts

We have put in place Trial licenses to make the comping process fast, easy, and fair for all. Running production works without properly licensed fonts may create liability. Eliminate risks with our Trial licenses.

5. Have a clearance stage in the rollout process

Before shipping assets or making them public, make sure that you have clearance on all creative assets that are part of the rollout. Fonts are one of them, alongside music, images, etc.

6. License fonts for their appropriate usage

We have structured our license addenda in straightforward ways that usually split usage by types of media. Whenever our typefaces appear on that media means they should be licensed adequately. We are here to help you achieve compliance: get in touch or learn about licensing options.