Legalizing a personal "workhorse" font for a specific client

Vasil Stanev

Hello guys and gals,
in the previous year I have developed a grotesk that I use for personal projects and jobs for clients. This way I have no legal troubles and I know I have a quality font.
However, a client liked the font so much that she decided she wants full right and that this font is used from now on ONLY for her company. Also, she wants more weights and matching italics.
How do I word the legal agreement so everyone is happy, and what should be a normal price for this license, and for further modifications? For now it is only used for print collateral and web assets, but one day it could be optimized for the web, and whatever new technology comes along.
I believe others have had the same issue.

JoyceKetterer

@Vasil Stanev  Would she be happy with an exclusive renamed customization?  That's the path of least resistance.  If no, I have other ideas.

Chris Lozos

As Joyce said, "exclusive renamed customization" seems like the best way to go. Then, you could use your own font as you wish and adapt changes as she sees fit in the future.

JoyceKetterer

@Chris Lozos This usually doesn't work for us because the customer asking is usually in a hurry.  But in this case she's already asking for some expansions so it might work.

Christopher Slye

Your description implies that your client wants full ownership of the typeface — a buyout — not simply an exclusive license. But if that’s not true, then perhaps the client could have a period of exclusivity, after which you can resume use and licensing.

Whatever it is, I hope you’ll have a lawyer draft the final agreement. It seems like it could get tricky.

What about previous use? You’ll want to be clear that some previous clients used, or are using, it for their own work. Maybe you want to be able to use it for personal use? Or related to the “customization” idea, maybe you want to be clear about having the rights to modify it and use that new version(s) for yourself or others — i.e. maybe this client gets today's version and you get the later derivatives (aside from whatever changes or new styles the clients wants now, of course).

I don’t know what you should charge for this, but I’d say it should be a lot. All the time you’ve spent developing it, plus the loss of potential future licensing revenue? That’s a very big deal.

As I’ve said before, once a client (maybe naively) asks about a full buyout and hears the price, they might quickly realize they only need to pay for a more limited license. So depending on what you really feel like doing, you can offer a few options at different prices.

Oh, and regarding any future modifications they might want (“web optimization,” etc.), you might want to be clear about your obligation to do that, and for what price. You might, for example, be clear that it’s all their own responsibility (which you might or might not help them with). Or, you could insist they they must let you do all of it, for a price.

Alex Visi

“She liked it” right away doesn’t sound like a big company that can cover you all of the development costs and potential sales/usage. And you’d also need to design yourself a new workhorse — who’d pay for that?