This guide helps you choose the correct Nortype license before purchase.
Related guides: Understanding Nortype’s Licensing Model and Guide to Nortype License Types. The full legal terms are set out in the EULA.
Norsk versjon: Lisensguide.
To choose the right license, you need to know three things:
If the License Owner is above the largest employee-count tier available in the online store, or if the use is broad, mixed, unusual or not listed in the online store, contact us before purchasing.
The License Owner is the person, company, organisation or institution legally responsible for the brand, project, communication, products, services, website, app, campaign or material represented by the typeface.
If the typeface will represent your own brand or project, enter the person, company or organisation legally responsible for that brand or project as the License Owner.
If a designer, agency, developer, employee or procurement person buys the license for a client, the client is the License Owner.
A license normally covers one License Owner and one brand. If the typeface will be used for several brands, sub-brands, product brands, campaign brands, affiliated brands or other distinct identities, contact us before purchasing.
License pricing is based on the total size of the License Owner, not on the number of people who install or directly use the fonts.
Count people working for or on behalf of the License Owner, including employees, part-time employees, temporary employees, regular freelancers, contractors, consultants and similar regular personnel.
The employee-count tier is part of the pricing, together with the License Type and selected styles. The License Type decides what kind of use the license covers.
If the License Owner grows into a larger employee-count tier, the license must be upgraded before continued use in that larger tier. If the typeface is later used in ways not covered by the original License Type, the license must be extended before the expanded use begins.
Standard Licenses are intended for limited, clearly defined use by one License Owner for one brand.
Standard Licenses include Desktop, Web, Social Media, Video, App, Logo / Wordmark, and Student.
A Desktop License is for installing the Font Software on desktop computers and similar workstations to create printed materials and static digital materials for one brand.
Desktop fonts are supplied in OTF.
A Desktop License does not include Web, App, Social Media, Video, ATL, Special Use, Enterprise, paid advertising, logo or wordmark use, trademark registration or other reserved uses unless expressly stated.
A Web License is for using approved webfont files on one website for one brand.
This includes the primary domain, ordinary subdomains and staging or development environments for the same website. Web fonts are supplied in WOFF2.
Desktop font files may not be used as webfonts. Webfont files must be self-hosted by or for the License Owner unless otherwise agreed in writing.
A Social Media License covers organic social media use for one brand.
It also covers limited promotion or boosting of the License Owner’s own social media content, as long as this is not part of a broader paid advertising campaign.
Broader paid social campaigns, sponsored content, influencer campaigns, paid placements and paid video ads require a Digital Advertising License.
A Video License is for using the typeface in video and motion content for one brand.
Broadcast, cinema, streaming title use, trailers, television commercials, video-on-demand distribution and similar broadcast or theatrical use require a Broadcast / Cinema License.
An App License is for embedding the Font Software in one app for one brand, such as one mobile app, one web app or one small-scale game.
Versions for different operating systems, platforms, languages or territories may be covered if they form part of the same application and brand.
Standalone software products, standalone game titles, publisher-scale distribution, broad commercial distribution, high-exposure software use or larger-scale software/game deployment require a Software License.
A Logo / Wordmark License is required when the typeface is used to create one logo or one wordmark for one brand.
This license allows the typeface to be used in the logo or wordmark itself. It does not automatically include trademark registration, slogans, or use beyond ordinary logo or wordmark creation and use for that brand unless expressly stated in the License Documentation.
Trademarking or registering a logo, wordmark or slogan that uses the typeface requires a Trademark License.
ATL Licenses cover public-facing, campaign-based, promotional, branding or audience-reaching uses that are not included in the Standard Licenses.
ATL Licenses include:
For a detailed overview of ATL License Types, read Guide to Nortype License Types.
Contact us if you need ATL use.
Special Use Licenses cover product, software, system, platform, server, device and other technical or commercial uses that are not included in Standard Licenses or ATL Licenses.
Special Use Licenses include:
For a detailed overview of Special Use Licenses and their technical scope, read Guide to Nortype License Types.
Contact us if you need Special Use.
Enterprise / Unlimited Media Licenses are for broader, combined, negotiated or open-ended use that exceeds ordinary Standard, ATL or Special Use Licenses.
This may include use across multiple License Types, media categories, territories, legal entities, brands, suppliers, platforms, systems, high-exposure environments or complex implementation chains.
Enterprise / Unlimited Media Licenses may also be relevant for License Owners above the largest employee-count tier available in the online store.
If the use becomes broad, ongoing, open-ended or difficult to manage through separate license types, an Enterprise / Unlimited Media License may be the simplest solution.
Contact us to request an Enterprise / Unlimited Media License.
Agencies, designers, developers, printers and other suppliers may access the font files when reasonably necessary to carry out licensed work for the License Owner.
They do not receive their own license. They may use the font files only for the License Owner’s licensed use.
They may not use the fonts for their own business, another client, another brand or another project.
The License Owner remains responsible for font use by third parties who receive the font files or direct technical access to them.
Finished files are different from font files. You may share finished PDFs, images, video files, print files, outlined artwork and other finished output, as long as the Font Software itself is not included or reusable.
If you are helping a client choose and purchase a license, select the correct License Type, styles and employee-count tier in the online store. At checkout, enter the client as the License Owner.
If the client should pay directly, you can complete the checkout process and send the Stripe payment link to the client. The link is active for 24 hours.
If you charge a client for a Nortype license as part of a wider service arrangement, the Nortype license fee should be clearly separated from your own design, agency, implementation or service fees.
Student Licenses are available on request for individual active students.
Student Licenses may be used for personal, educational, portfolio and self-initiated work, including self-initiated commercial work by the student.
They may not be used for work performed for or on behalf of a client, employer, company, organisation, institution or other third-party License Owner.
If work created under a Student License is adopted, commissioned, published, used or commercialised by a client, employer, company, organisation or institution, that party must obtain the appropriate license before use begins.
Trial fonts are for testing and evaluation under the Trial License terms in the EULA.
They are not a substitute for a commercial license.
Public, client-facing, commercial or production use requires the appropriate commercial license before use begins.
Some uses require approval before purchase or use.
Contact us before using the Font Software in connection with:
If we do not respond to a request for approval, approval has not been granted.
The Font Software may not be used in connection with unlawful material or unlawful activity.
You may convert text to outlines and adjust the resulting non-font artwork as part of a licensed logo, wordmark, illustration, layout or other finished design output.
You may not modify, convert, rename, repackage, subset, reverse-engineer or otherwise alter the Font Software itself unless Nortype has expressly approved it in writing.
Desktop, Web, Social Media, Video, App and Logo / Wordmark Licenses are available in our online store.
If you need ATL, Special Use, Enterprise / Unlimited Media, approval-based use, or any use not listed in the shop, contact us for a quote.
Please include:
Please send your completed request to post@nortype.com. We will respond with a quote as soon as possible.
After checkout, you will receive a Proof of License and font files by email.
Please make sure the email address is correct and check that the Proof of License matches the License Owner, employee-count tier, License Type and styles you intended to purchase.
Font Software is non-returnable and non-refundable once delivered.
This guide is a plain-language overview of how to choose and purchase the correct license. It does not replace the EULA. If anything in this guide conflicts with the EULA or your License Documentation, the EULA and the applicable License Documentation apply.
To understand the thinking behind the model, read Understanding Nortype’s Licensing Model. For a detailed overview of the available license types, read Guide to Nortype License Types.