Font Licensing

[pauls48553997]

As a small branding agency we often create brands that use Adobe fonts as primary and seconday brand typefaces. Im intersted to understand how licenecing works for our clients. For example if we create a brand for a medium size organisation like an Architect firm. They have a Adobe CC licence to run photoshop internally and possbile only one seat and dont have any real need for multi licensing seats. If we suggest an Adobe fiont be use in all their documents across multiple usesers and PC's how do they install and licence this. Ongoping will they always have to have a subscription to Adobe CC? 

[Test Screen Name]

They can install fonts from Adobe Fonts for use only by the person named in the CC license. It absolutely cannot be downloaded, or shared. If their business does not work this way, then purchase of fonts licenses needs to be factored in costings. There is no path direct from Adobe Fonts to font licensing; separate research is needed, and some fonts are exclusive to Adobe Fonts. Adobe would of course encourage taking out a large number of subscriptions, that would suit them very well.

As a matter of opinion, I'd recommend font licensing for any branding font, and especially for web fonts. The fonts in Adobe Fonts can change and be removed. And imagine a major web site changing font because one person (the one who set up the web font link) has left or has a billing issue.

[Abambo]

See here for more information on font licensing. If you are doing font branding for customers, they will need to acquire the specific licences. We always do branding with different steps:

• Office applications are allowed to use standard fonts for letter writing etc. We only brand the look and feel and impose one or two fonts available on the PCs.
• Prints and PDF are using the branded design. For this, the customer, if he or she does those designs on their own, which is not always recommended, they need to acquire the necessary licences. Often fonts come in packs of 5 licences. Typically, that is enough for a small communications workgroup.

[Andrew Strauss · Accepted solution]

The concise answer:

Font licensing would depend entirely upon the typefaces you choose to use. Always read font licence agreements: they describe your legal rights and responsibilities in detail.

Some typefoundries have quite restrictive licensing. Other typefoundries are more relaxed. There are also typefaces – like Adobe’s Source Sans, Serif, and Code families – that have free open-source licences that give you great flexibility.

The more detailed answer:

Historically, digital typefaces were licensed using a seat-based pricing scheme. For example: if you installed the font files on ten computers, printers, and other imaging devices, then you’d pay the typefoundry a licensing fee that covered ten seats.

Many typefoundries specified their standard pricing – the one that you’d see in their type specimen catalogues – for either one or five seats. Most foundries like Adobe set a minimum fee for five seats; others were more specific, using one-seat fees as their starting point.

What you could specifically do with font files was also set out in detail in the typefoundry’s licensing agreement. For example: Adobe allowed text to be converted into vector outlines, fonts to be embedded into PDF files, font files to be included with document files sent to service bureaus and printers, and for licensees to modify the original font files for their own custom use. Other typefoundries were much more restrictive: in one case, licensees were not allowed to convert text into pixels more than 500 pixels tall without paying extra for the privilege.

Regardless of the typefoundry, one aspect of licensing has generally stayed in place over time: if you need to install and actively use font files on any digital device, you have to pay a licensing fee for that privilege. Typically, that means one seat per digital device.

Let’s say that the medium-sized architectural firm that you’re building a corporate identity and style guide for has one hundred digital devices that will be actively using the typeface families that you’ve specified for them. Do to so, the firm will need to purchase a 100-seat licence for each the typefaces from each respective typefoundry that best meets their everyday practical needs.

Please note that this is in addition to the Creative Cloud subscription that you personally have to design the architectural firm’s corporate identity. If the firm has a Creative Cloud subscription for one hundred seats, then they most likely don’t need to purchase separate font licences. But since this is unlikely to be the case, it’s your responsibility as a designer to make sure that your client is fully aware of their legal and financial obligations to the typefoundries in question.

A good way to think of the Adobe Fonts service that’s part of your Creative Cloud subscription is an experimental playground to test out a diverse range of typefaces from dozens of independent typefoundries. If the work you’re producing is strictly for your own personal or professional use, them Adobe Fonts’ licensing agreement covers almost every practical way that you’ll be using Creative Cloud applications and services to create and produce designs.

But the moment you start designing professionally for third parties, those people and organizations will have legal and financial obligations to the typefoundries whose typefaces they’ll be actively using. This means that you have a responsibility to select typefaces with care: you or your client may like the type, but the foundry’s licensing terms and fees may be beyond what your client is willing to tolerate or pay.

Please note that there are situations where it may not be necessary for your client to license fonts from a typefoundry. If you read the Adobe Fonts licence agreement in detail, you’ll notice that static artwork and files are okay.

One example: you design a text-based logo in Illustrator, convert the text to outlines, and combine the outlines with other objects to produce the final logo for your client. This is acceptable use, because your client doesn’t require the original font files in order to actively use the logo.

Another example: you’re producing an annual report or other document for your client, who wants to post a PDF copy on their website for download. If you’re the person responsible for producing the PDF file, then Adobe’s licensing terms treat this as acceptable use: since the font is embedded into the PDF file, anyone that views the PDF doesn’t need the font installed on their own device to view the document.

A variation on the above example: let’s say that you’re producing the annual report along with somebody who works at the architectural firm. If you’re actively passing working files back and forth – using Adobe applications like Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop – then both of you will have to purchase a Creative Cloud subscription. The moment that a final PDF file is produced, anyone else can open and view the PDF without needing a Creative Cloud subscription or separate font licence.

I hope that answers your question. If not, please let me know.

Best regards
Andrew

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