Adam Ladd

Reviving this thread a bit: I'm curious, when talking about doing a custom font design for a client and considering the rights... what are we talking about in terms of licensing?

@Thomas Phinney shared some numbers (I know it was a few years ago but still helpful, thank you) that a client might be able to get a font (one style) from a lesser known designer for "around $5K per style, or $20K USD for a four-member family, including CE support, and buying all rights." 

I was reading "all rights" in the context of this thread as just talking about exclusivity terms (that the client gets exclusivity), not talking about licensing/usage scope.

Would the pricing referenced just be for a Desktop license, or does "all rights" also mean the client gets all licensing types too: Desktop, Web, Apps with unlimited use?

What is generally assumed with a custom font project in terms of licensing (aside from rights): is it that the client would get all licensing types for the basic price quote provided, or is it generally assumed/known that the quote only includes a Desktop license and the price would increase for the other licensing types accordingly?

Thanks!

Thanks for your feedback Joyce. I think you and Pablo are probably right in that the main goal is to remove as much licensing and future licensing difficulty and worry as possible (which I understand and see the benefit of). Yeah, may take some continued exploration/testing down the road, but I do have a better sense of the ballpark. Appreciate everyone's replies.

Hi All,

I know subscription platforms have been around for a few years now and I looked at this discussion: http://typedrawers.com/discussion/1342/monotype-introduces-new-font-subscription-services but wondering if anyone who sells fonts on both subscriber platforms (e.g. Typekit) and the same fonts on traditional platforms (e.g. MyFonts) has started to see any measurable pros or cons?

Noted that the ease of use/benefit for the user is pretty clear, but still wondering about the foundry.

Does the subscription model ever undercut your sales on other traditional platforms, or has there not been a measurable change. Or if there does seem to be a decrease in traditional sales, if the sales via contributing to a subscription offering make up for it. Does having your fonts available through a "less expensive" subscription model hurt your ability to attain higher or custom licensing sales?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Thierry, thank you for your reply and thoughts about options for how to break this out. I appreciate it.

I also have a question along similar lines to this custom, unlimited licensing pricing. I have some ballpark numbers in mind based on what is out there and already discussed, but I would really appreciate any more thoughts from you all to lean against to provide a fair quote for all...

Someone has reached out on behalf of a company who would like a quote for a worldwide, unlimited, all-inclusive license of two styles from one of my already existing fonts. They are not asking for exclusivity.

In essence, it's a "brand" license where the company will have the two fonts as a brand asset to use and provide to all of their employees and all current and future affiliates and partners to the brand (agencies, printers, businesses that sell the brands product and are creating their own in-house ads for the brand, etc.).

Platforms for usage would also be unlimited: desktop, web, apps, epub, etc. And it would be in perpetuity, so no page count limits or expiration time. Just one flat fee.

Any thoughts about something reasonable?

Thanks!