Guided licensing

With the arrival of digital type in the 1980s, font licensing got complicated. Fonts were now software, and thus could be offered directly to end users. New foundries proliferated, fonts proliferated, and so did end user license agreements (EULAs). Graphic designers suddenly found themselves in the position of parsing impenetrable legalese, often in all caps; confusion and noncompliance were frequent issues. Over the years, some have expressed a desire for a “universal” or standardized EULA, but the realization of such an ideal appears unlikely: The way a foundry structures its licensing is very particular—fundamental to how the foundry understands its customers. 

We’ve always tried to make our licensing process as transparent, fair, and straightforward as possible. For example, all of our licensing is a one-time fee for perpetual usage—always has been, always will be. And for many years now, our EULA has consisted of two parts: an intricate legal contract on the left, with a plain-English gloss of that document on the right. We did this to make life easier for our customers, and now we’ve taken that a step further by developing what we call guided licensing. This new feature makes more than half a dozen specialized license options—offered on request for years—immediately accessible to you through our site, without you having to email us for details or pricing. 

Although we encourage you to read our EULA carefully, we also understand that you might be short on time and bandwidth. So we turned to our friends at GrayBits, the design and development studio that has shepherded our website through many iterations over the years. They took our fuzzy, complicated concept and ran with it, integrating an intuitive, user-friendly licensing wizard directly into the checkout experience. If you’re a seasoned art director who has already licensed a million fonts, you can probably do without much guidance; “I know which licenses I need” is selected by default. But maybe you’re not quite sure what you need. In that case, check “Guided licensing.” You’ll be walked through a series of questions that will help you narrow down the exact licensing scenario most appropriate for you. We think we’ve covered all the bases, but if you find that you still have questions, reach out. We’re happy to help.