![]() How To Tell If A Font Is CopyrightedĬonsidering that every font was once created by some human somewhere, technically all fonts are copyrighted. Just ask NBC Universal, who faced a potential lawsuit for $3.5 million for alleged misuse of a copyrighted font back in 2012. Needless to say, knowing how to tell if a font is copyrighted is quite valuable if you’re a designer. Not only that, but according to Larissa Bodniowycz of LegalZoom, they can also sue for statutory damages of up to $150,000 USD per work! If the owner of the copyright can prove that you gained financially by infringing on it, they can sue you for whatever amount you gained. They can include both civil and criminal penalties. The consequences of infringing on someone else’s copyright (in the United States anyway) are dire. ![]() Repercussions Of Misusing A Copyrighted Font You have to be careful when using free font sites like Dafont because they are notorious for this. I can’t count how many times I’ve had a client link me to a “free” font they wanted me to use for their logo, only to end up having to explain to them that I cannot use it unless they purchase a license. This is a common misunderstanding among clients and newcomers to design. A lot of font designers release premium fonts on a free-for-personal-use basis as a way to encourage you to purchase a commercial license from them (kind of like how I release free Inkscape tutorials as a way of encouraging enrollment in my paid Inkscape course.) Like I mentioned earlier, just because a font is free to download that doesn’t mean it’s free to use however you want. Not only that, but a lot of fonts that you could typically download for free from sites like Dafont may be free for personal use but require you to purchase a license to use them commercially. This would describe a lot of the premium fonts that you would find on sites like Creative Market. Whether or not you can use that license just once or over and over again for different clients depends on the license, so be sure to check. Requires The Purchase Of A Licenseįinally, these are fonts that you can use commercially so long as you purchase a license to do so from the copyright holder. A great site for free commercial use fonts is Font Squirrel. I personally try to use free-for-commercial-use fonts as often as I can because there’s the least amount of risk attached to them. So if you’re using a font to design a product, or to promote your business, or to use on your website where you intend to profit in some way, it’s a good idea to look for fonts that specifically state in their license that commercial use is okay. ![]() These are fonts that you can use both personally and commercially, and are typically the safest fonts to use.
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