This guide explains the main license types used by Nortype in plain language. It is meant to help customers understand which license may be relevant for a particular kind of use.
Related guides: Licensing Guide and Understanding Nortype’s Licensing Model.
Norsk versjon: Rettleiar til Nortype sine lisenstypar.
A font license depends on three things:
If a use is broad, unusual, public-facing, technical, automated, embedded, high-exposure or not clearly covered by the online store, please contact Nortype before use.
Standard Licenses are the ordinary license types most customers use for straightforward design, web, social media, video, app, logo / wordmark or student use. They are typically available through the online store or by request.
A Trial License is for testing and evaluating a typeface before deciding whether to buy a commercial license.
Typical examples include:
Trial fonts are for internal testing and evaluation only. They are not commercial licenses.
Trial fonts may not be used for public, commercial, client-facing, published, logo, website, app, social media, advertising, production or final use. Those uses require the appropriate commercial license before use begins.
Trial use is governed by the Trial License terms in the EULA.
A Desktop License is for installing the font on desktop computers or similar workstations and using it to create static design work.
Typical examples include:
A Desktop License is often the basic license needed by designers, studios, in-house teams and organisations that create printed or static digital materials.
A Desktop License does not include logo or wordmark use unless that is expressly stated in the Proof of License. Logo or wordmark use requires a Logo / Wordmark License.
A Web License is for using webfont files on a website.
Typical examples include:
The Web License is for webfont use, not desktop use. Desktop font files should not be used as webfonts. Webfont files should be the files supplied or approved for web use.
A Web License is normally needed when visitors see live, selectable or rendered text on a website using the typeface.
A Social Media License is for organic social media use for one brand.
Typical examples include:
The Social Media License also allows limited promotion or boosting of the License Owner’s own social media content, as long as the use is not part of a broader paid advertising campaign.
Broader paid campaigns, paid social placements, sponsored content, influencer campaigns, paid video ads and comparable paid media use require a Digital Advertising License.
A Video License is for using the typeface in video and motion content for one brand.
Typical examples include:
A Video License does not cover television broadcast, cinema, streaming service titles, trailers, television commercials, video-on-demand distribution or similar broadcast/theatrical use. Those uses require a Broadcast / Cinema License.
Where video is used as paid advertising, a Digital Advertising License may also be required.
An App License is for embedding the font in one application for one brand.
Typical examples include:
The font must not be extractable or reusable by end users.
The App License is intended for apps belonging to the License Owner’s own brand. Larger software products, commercial games, distributed software, publisher-scale games or broader software distribution 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.
Typical examples include:
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 Proof of License.
If the logo, wordmark or slogan will be registered as a trademark or receive equivalent formal protection, a Trademark License is required.
A Student License is for active students.
Typical examples include:
A Student License belongs to the individual student. If a client, employer, company, organisation or institution later adopts, publishes, commissions, commercialises or uses the work, that party must obtain the appropriate license before use begins.
ATL Licenses are for public-facing, campaign-based, promotional, branding or audience-reaching use that goes beyond ordinary standard use.
A Trademark License is required when a logo, wordmark or slogan using the typeface will be registered or formally protected as a trademark.
Typical examples include:
A Trademark License concerns formal protection of the resulting mark. It does not transfer ownership of the font software itself.
A Digital Advertising License is for paid digital advertising.
Typical examples include:
Organic social media use is covered by the Social Media License. Paid campaigns and broader promotional placements require a Digital Advertising License.
If the advertising also uses video or motion content, a Video License may also be needed unless the Proof of License says otherwise.
An Out-of-Home License is for public advertising outside the home.
Typical examples include:
This license is for advertising and campaign use in public spaces, especially where the material reaches a broad audience.
A Signage / Wayfinding License is for public-facing or customer-facing signage and wayfinding systems.
Typical examples include:
This is different from ordinary printed design. It covers the use of the typeface as part of physical or environmental navigation, identification or public-facing spatial communication.
A Broadcast / Cinema License is for television, cinema, streaming, video-on-demand and similar broadcast or theatrical distribution.
Typical examples include:
A regular Video License is for ordinary video use. Broadcast, cinema, streaming and comparable distribution require this broader license.
An Electronic Publication License is for embedding the typeface in one electronic publication.
Typical examples include:
This license is for electronic reading products where the font is embedded in the publication itself. It is not the same as a Web License, App License or Software License.
Special Use Licenses are for product, software, system, platform, server, device and other technical or commercial uses that are not covered by the Standard or ATL Licenses.
These uses often involve embedding, automation, customer interaction, document generation, user-generated output, hardware, packaging or commercial products.
A Software License is for embedding or using the typeface in one standalone software product or one standalone game title that is distributed, sold, licensed, downloaded, installed or otherwise made available to third parties.
Typical examples include:
This license is different from the App License. The App License is for one app for the License Owner’s own brand. The Software License is for broader software or game products made available to third parties.
An Automated Document Production License is for systems that automatically generate documents or similar output by or for the License Owner.
Typical examples include:
This license is relevant when the License Owner’s system generates fixed or structured documents using the typeface.
A key point is that the License Owner’s customers receive the finished output, but they do not themselves create, customise, generate or edit new documents using the font.
If customers, hosts, users, vendors or other third parties can create or customise their own output, a User-Generated Output / SaaS License is needed instead.
A User-Generated Output / SaaS License is for platforms or services where customers, end users, hosts, partners, vendors or other third parties can create, customise, generate, edit, export, download, publish or output their own content using the typeface.
Typical examples include:
This license is needed when the typeface is part of a tool or service that lets other people create output. It is broader than ordinary automated document production because the end user has creative or practical control over what is generated.
A Document Systems / Brand Portals License is for managed internal or controlled environments where approved users create, manage, distribute or apply branded or document materials.
Typical examples include:
This license is for controlled use by or for the License Owner. It does not include open public access or broad user-generated output unless that is expressly included.
If external users, customers, hosts, vendors or other third parties can create their own output, a User-Generated Output / SaaS License may be needed.
A Device Embedding License is for embedding the typeface in electronic devices, hardware products or physical products with screens or user interfaces.
Typical examples include:
This license is relevant when the typeface becomes part of the interface or operating environment of a physical device or hardware product.
A Merchandise / Packaging License is for use on goods, merchandise, packaging, promotional products, retail products or other physical items intended for sale, distribution, giveaway or commercial circulation.
Typical examples include:
This license is relevant when the typeface is part of a physical product or packaging that circulates commercially.
It is different from ordinary printed design because the typeface appears on items that are themselves products, packaging or merchandise.
An Industrial Design License is for use of the typeface as part of the design, appearance, labelling, surface treatment or physical interface of industrial or consumer products.
Typical examples include:
This license is relevant when the typeface is not merely used in marketing for a product, but becomes part of the product’s design, surface, interface or physical identity.
An Enterprise / Unlimited Media License is a broader negotiated license for use that is too wide, mixed, high-exposure, open-ended or complex to fit comfortably into individual license types.
Typical examples include:
An Enterprise / Unlimited Media License is not a default “everything forever” license. It is negotiated according to the actual scope of use and should be clearly documented in the Proof of License or written agreement.
Some uses may require written approval or clarification even if they are not described as separate license types.
Examples include:
If the intended use is not clearly covered by the license purchased, contact Nortype before use.
Usually: Trial License.
Usually: Desktop License.
Usually: Web License.
Usually: Social Media License.
Usually: Video License.
Usually: Broadcast / Cinema License, and possibly Digital Advertising depending on use.
Usually: Logo / Wordmark License.
Usually: Trademark License.
Usually: App License.
Usually: Software License.
Usually: Automated Document Production License.
Usually: User-Generated Output / SaaS License.
Usually: Device Embedding License.
Usually: Merchandise / Packaging License.
Usually: contact Nortype about an Enterprise / Unlimited Media License.
This guide is intended to make the license types easier to understand. It does not replace the EULA or the Proof of License. If anything is unclear, the safest next step is to contact Nortype before using the typeface.