Watch Out for Font Usage

A few of months ago, we were in the process of updating the Giraffe Social brand, and part of that was hunting around for new fonts.

We dove into the various resources at our disposal – namely Freepik and Envato – and found some we liked.

Another colleague (unrelated to the font sourcing) asked about the usage rights for something on Canva, which prompted me to look at the usage rights on the two platforms I mentioned.

And I discovered something interesting.

We couldn’t use the fonts.

Buried deep down in the usage information was this piece of text:

[…] you can’t… redistribute the Font or Add-on (this includes no public distribution, display or performance). You also can’t modify or make derivatives of the Font or Add-on…

You’d think “redistribute” means sending the fonts to someone without a license, but it turns out that’s not the case.

Font Usage and Websites

Technically speaking, when you embed a font on a website, you’re redistributing it to the end user.

I know that sounds weird, but it’s true.

Having an embedded font on your website means browsers must download it to then show it to an end user.

This is what’s included in the “redistribution” clause. You’re technically distributing the font for people to use, even if it is on your own website.

You can, however, use the font to create static things like logos, banners, etc. This is fine because the font just becomes pixels on a page, not a “live” thing in a browser.

The Moral of the Story

Check your damn usage rights.

Because “having access” to an asset library is not the same as owning the asset, and a subscription to said library doesn’t equal universal permission for the assets within.

The small print is doing far more work than the headline price ever will.

If I hadn’t randomly decided to look at the usage info for those platforms, we’d have happily assumed that having a license for the libraries meant we could use the assets however we wished.

That’s far from the case.

And in branding – where your typeface becomes part of your identity – building on something you’re not legally allowed to use isn’t just a minor oversight. It’s a ticking time bomb.

Read the terms. Even the boring bits.

Especially the boring bits.