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Font license for use on products to sell
Posted by kristin in
9 Jan 2012 — 12:03pm
9 Jan 2012 — 12:03pm
Hello,
I currently purchase font licensing for a major U.S. corporation to use on packaging, in-store signage and advertising. I have been approached by our Product Design and Development team about licensing for font usage on products they design and sell.
I have not investigated this in the past and wonder if anyone has some expertise and/or documentation I can look it to provide advice to me and the team.I do know that P22 required Starbucks to purchase additional licenses to cover usage of their fonts on products.
Any advice or help is appreciated!
Thanks,
Kristin
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10 Jan 2012 — 6:18am
Depending on the specific EULA (End User License Agreement), most foundries don’t charge additional fees for font usage on products they design and sell at all. Though in such cases often a MUL (multi-user license) is necessary, since more than 5 designers (also depending on the specific EULA) use the fonts in large companies, this usage itself is usually covered by the basic license. Speaking for FontFont, it’s definitely covered.
10 Jan 2012 — 8:06am
If the products are digital, and you require the fonts to be installed either on devices, or accessed interactively online through a server, then you will need a special licence.
10 Jan 2012 — 8:17am
I think the P22 restrictions are somewhat unusual (as I recall House Industries has some similar rules), but checking the EULA for each font you intend to use in this way is probably the best plan. As Nick mentions, digital products, along with rubber stamps, and in some cases using dingbats as primary design elements are things to watch.
10 Jan 2012 — 8:38am
Specific information about the P22 licensing model regarding packaging and usage beyond the font data can be found here and here.
10 Jan 2012 — 8:48am
So strange that P22 can keep going with that. “Yes you can license the fonts, but this and this and that and this and that and this and this is not allowed”. There’s no good way to know how much a license will cost beforehand. Why not reveal the factors and the formula that affects the price tag?