Web Font Licences & How To Use Licensed Fonts Correctly

You may be reading this because even though you purchased a font licence, you’ve received a threatening email or message from a font library, telling you that they will be taking legal action and you’re in full panic mode.

Web typography has become an essential part of web design, allowing designers to create visually appealing and engaging websites. However, with the rise of web typography, the issue of font licensing has also become a crucial consideration for web designers, developers and website owners. 

Ensuring correct implementation can avoid the stress of receiving emails like those mentioned above.

This post will help you understand the correct way in which licenced fonts need to be used on websites. We will also explore web font licences, how they work online, and why you need them to ensure your website is legally compliant and visually stunning.

What Are Web Font Licences?

Web font licences are legal agreements between a font creator and the user, granting permission to use the font in a specific way. These licences outline the terms and conditions for using the font, including the number of users, platforms, and websites the font can be used on, as well as any restrictions or limitations.

Web font licences are necessary because fonts, like any other creative work, are protected by copyright laws. This means that you cannot use a font without the permission of the creator, even if it is available for free online.

Types Of Web Font Licences

There are various types of web font licences, each with its own set of terms and conditions. Some of the most common types of web font licences include:

• Free Fonts: These fonts are available for use without any cost, but they may still require a licence for commercial use. Commercial licences can still be free however before utilising the font it is best to understand if there is a commercial licence and if there are any cost implications.

Another thing to consider with some free fonts that you may come across online, is that they might not contain all weights or characters available compared to a purchased font. Some free fonts might only provide lowercase letters and don’t contain uppercase characters or numbers and symbols/glyphs. Meaning that using one of these fonts for large content pieces can cause many visual errors in the that are not great for the user experience.

Lastly, some free fonts might only consist of a single weight. If you want to use bold or light font weights, these would be purchasable.

• Paid Fonts: These fonts require a one-time or subscription-based payment for use. Paid fonts often come with more features and support, making them a popular choice for professional web design.
• Open Source Fonts: These fonts are available for use and modification without any cost. However, they may have specific requirements for attribution or redistribution, and how they are served can dictate whether they meet privacy requirements in certain countries.
• Custom Fonts: These fonts are created specifically for a client and are not available for public use. They require a custom licence agreement between the client and the font creator.

How Do Web Font Licences Work Online?

Web font licences work differently online compared to traditional print licences. With web fonts, the font files are hosted on a server and are accessed by the user’s browser when they visit a website. This means that the font is not physically downloaded onto the user’s device, making it difficult to enforce traditional print licences.

To address this issue, web font licences use a technology called “font embedding.” This technology allows the font creator to specify how the font can be used on a website, including the number of page views, domains, and subdomains the font can be used on.

Font Embedding Methods

There are two main methods of font embedding: @font-face and JavaScript embedding.

• @font-face: This method uses CSS to specify the font file location and format, allowing the font to be downloaded and used by the browser.
• JavaScript Embedding: This method uses JavaScript to load the font file from a remote server and apply it to the website.

Both methods have their own advantages and disadvantages, but they both require a web font licence to be legally compliant.

Why Do You Need A Web Font Licence?

Web font licences are essential for several reasons, including legal compliance, font support, and design consistency.

Legal Compliance

Using a font without a proper licence is a violation of copyright laws and can result in legal consequences. It is important to ensure that you have the proper licence for any font you use on your website to avoid any legal issues.

Font Support

Web font licences also ensure that you have access to support and updates for the font. This is especially important for paid fonts, as you want to ensure that you have the latest version of the font with all its features and bug fixes if they were to occur.

Design Consistency

Using a licensed font also ensures design consistency across different devices, browsers and offline marketing material. Without a full licence, the font may not display correctly on all devices, leading to a poor user experience.

How To Obtain Web Font Licences?

Obtaining a web font licence is a straightforward process. Most font creators offer licences on their websites, and some even have dedicated web font licensing services.

Popular Web Font Licensing Services

• Fontspring: This service offers licences for thousands of fonts from various font foundries. They also offer a web font licence extension for popular font formats like OpenType and TrueType.
• MyFonts: This service offers licences for over 130,000 fonts from various font foundries. They also offer a web font licence extension for popular font formats like OpenType and TrueType.
• Google Fonts: This service offers free web font licences for over 1,000 fonts. These fonts are open source and can be used for personal and commercial projects.
• Adobe Fonts: Previously known as Typekit, Adobe provide licences for their library of 25,000 fonts that can be used on websites but for marketers they can also download many of them and use them in PDF’s and other Adobe files in software like InDesign and Illustrator.
• Fonts.com (since acquired by Monotype) – This is another platform that provides subscription to their font libraries for web use with tens of thousands of font choices by many popular font designers. 

Why Am I Getting Legal Emails For A Web Font I Purchased A Licence For? 

There are more and more automated systems being utilised by font libraries and copyright holders that hunt down licences for font usage, and identify those without them.

In the same way the music industry wanted to crack down on illegal downloads, the font industry want to ensure that they’re not losing out on income from people who are downloading and serving the fonts for free.

Firstly though it is important to understand why you are receiving a demand email.

Do You Have A Web Font Licence?

If you are unsure whether you hold a licence for a font you are being pursued for, finding out is your first task.

The font may be part of your company’s branding and they should hold the correct licences for its use. Speak with the relevant people internally to ascertain this.

Perhaps it was a font suggested and added by your web design partner. Did they acquire the appropriate licence?

It goes without saying, that if you are using an unlicensed font, then the copyright owner is well within their rights to pursue you. 

If this is the case, you should purchase a licence or remove the font from your website entirely.

Are You Breaking The Licence Terms?

In some cases, you may have purchased a font licence, but it may not cover usage on your website. Ensure that you have a licence that covers web usage, and ensure that you are using the font in a way that meets the terms and restrictions of that licence in terms of how much traffic your website receives, as this will play an important factor in the usage rights. The more popular your website, the higher cost will be for the font licence. 

Is Your Licence Implemented Correctly

But sometimes, even those who have purchased a licence may receive these emails and it can be down to how the font and licence have been implemented. 

Sometimes even a small mistake in implementation, or human error where something isn’t activated as it should be, can mean that your licence isn’t found. Leading to these companies reaching out and demanding you purchase a licence you already hold.

This will likely become a more and more common occurrence, as these automated systems are used more widely by font libraries.

Ensuring that the web URL is included alongside the company name the licence is registered to, if the two are different, the automated system won’t know the holding company and the sub brand or website are the same organisation.

How To Properly Implement Licenced Web Fonts To Avoid Issues

Whether it is for legal purposes or for performance improvements, many fonts now need to be embedded within a website, rather than being served via the font library. This is where in some cases, licence confusion can be caused.

If the website has a font embedded, there could be a tracking script that needs to be added to the website to communicate to the font library that the font is being used. 

This will likely become far more common as the libraries can view correct usage based on visitors and impressions. 

Best Practices for Using Web Font Licences

To ensure that you are using web font licences correctly, here are some best practices to keep in mind:

• Read the Licence Agreement: Before using a font, make sure to read the licence agreement carefully to understand the terms and conditions. Look at your website traffic and ensure that the licence purchased will correctly cover your website.
• Read any implementation documentation: If there are specific ways the font has to be implemented, like adding a tracking script the communicates website visits etc, then ensure that this is completed, it will save stress and worry later.
• Keep records: Keep a record of all the fonts you use on your website and their respective licences. This will help you stay organised and ensure that you are using the fonts correctly.
• Check for updates: Make sure to check for updates for your licensed fonts regularly. Font libraries can change their terms for usage, without checking in from time to time you might not be aware of usage changes or if there were updates to the existing font being used.
• Use a Font Manager: Consider using a font manager to keep track of your licensed fonts and ensure that they are being used correctly on your website.
• Regular website audits – A potential option is to schedule a routine audit of your website, to look at the fonts being used, libraries for photos, plugins and other tools. Knowing what is being used and what is not can also benefit you financially, as you can cancel and save money on these subscriptions if they are no longer in use.

Conclusion

Web fonts have become an essential part of website design to ensure brand consistency across digital and offline. 

In recent years with the introduction of Google Fonts and other libraries, fonts have moved from standard system fonts, to being able to display premium fonts that should have paid for commercial licences. Websites and font usage however might have been the wild west with little to no enforcement of the copyright holders.

Today however, through the use of technology, font providers have easier ways of enforcing their copyright and demanding payment for licence usages.

Whether fonts have been served in the past and your website has ‘worked fine’ for many years, the font libraries themselves might have evolved their licences and how you can use them. As a result, you will no doubt need to explore whether the fonts used on your website are served correctly, and whether you do have a commercial licence that best meets the traffic levels of your website.

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