A note on licencing fonts

Licencing fonts is a two sided matter. Just like music, typefaces are an intellectual property – an immaterial commodity, that once created can be reproduced indefinitely and distributed at virtually no additional cost. What the customer is really paying for is the blood, sweat, and tears (and doughnuts) that went into its development.

For people licencing fonts, it is important that things go smoothly and the rules of the game are clear – no hidden costs, no constant monitoring of usage, in short: no legal squabbles. For designers, it is important that they will be compensated in relation to the extent their design is used. A foundry’s licencing structure and costs are the result of balancing these two interests.

With our new website two years ago, we have introduced (maybe as the first on the market?) bundled licences aimed towards our typical retail customers. Importantly, it made the licencing an integral part of the shopping experience. While well received, it also raised some questions. So a few months ago we went back to the drawing board to make it clearer, more compatible, simpler, and … more relaxed. Thanks to everyone who took part in our surveys and polls. You helped a lot.

So what exactly changed?

• We have eliminated the strange price tags that looked like charm pricing in some instances. We are not selling air fresheners after all.
• While individual fonts are slightly pricier, bundles are more heavily discounted, up to 40 % on selected families.
• No limits for PDF embedding or use in logos, no distinction between small- and large-scale projects. We were silly to do that.
• All of our licences (except Test licenses) now allow e-book embedding as a standard. The distinction between printed and digital belongs to the 20th century. A book is a book is a book.
• The Web licence is now web-only. You will need a Single or Studio licence if you want to use the fonts on desktop. It is significantly cheaper though. And! It is for an unlimited number of domains, and does not require any kind of tracking (we love and trust our customers). The only limitation is the total monthly pageviews.
• There is a new App licence, finally! Intended for mobile and tablet apps. Up to three titles, unlimited extension packs and updates, any platform.
• There is a new Universal licence. It covers installation of the fonts for up to 20 users, use on the web (the limit is 5 million pageviews/month), and in-app embedding for an unlimited number of apps.
• We discontinued the Publisher licence.

If you previously purchased fonts from us:

• Studio and Freelancer licence owners will be transferred to the new, more generous Studio and Single licences respectively.
• If you purchased a Publisher licence you will continue to receive updates, and can use the fonts according to the old licence.
• If you purchased a Web licence your will continue to receive updates for the WOFF+EOT fonts, and can use the fonts according to the old licence. If you wish to switch to a combo of the new Single and Web licences instead, we can do that for you, for free. Just send us an email.

We hope that new and existing customers alike will appreciate the revised, and in our opinion, more transparent pricing and licencing.