Would you agree to rent a house or work at a job under a contract with a clause such as "Section 22"? Don't sign anything like that without proper legal advice or you will regret it later.
What I meant to say, when clicking the "acknowledge agreement changes"
button, it's just that, you're acknowledging the changes. You don't need
to agree to the changes. If you are on the platform then you've already agreed
to any changes.
What should be in the agreement is a section that states that you can
leave this agreement at any time and also that this section of the
agreement must remain in every future agreement, unchanged.
There's a button to push and it says you can leave this agreement at any time, but it should be in the agreement.
What should be in the agreement is a section that states that you can
leave this agreement at any time and also that this section of the
agreement must remain in every future agreement, unchanged.
@Jesse R Ewing "Using the Fontspring font uploader" seems really unlikely (at least in the near term), but your desire to improve that upload and management process at CM is something we will certainly share with them.
Please do! Thank you. I tried to raise this when I first joined CM but it fell on deaf ears.
For those who don't know, when you upload a font to Creative Market, you have to upload a .zip file that includes all the files you want customers to receive, and all customers receive the same .zip file regardless of whether they purchase a desktop, ebook, web or app license. I literally had to write a README file that states: Files for desktop, ebook, web and app usage are included in this package. Please ensure you've purchased the correct license(s) for your usage.
I guess this is going to be a good test to see how quickly the new team responds to our concerns. I'm assuming this isn't the sort of thing that Ethan can handle any longer, am I wrong?
The last couple of weeks have been a blur and my 15 yo daughter was just hospitalized last night with blood sugar at 480. Life comes fast. This is still being discussed and appreciate everyone's feedback. We have noted a few errors in the agreement and will be releasing an update soon. More to come.
Thanks all for the concern for my daughter. She is doing great and managing it as well as a 15 year old can. I am still a little swamped from the flu ripping through our family and getting through the transition, but did not want to leave this thread hanging the way I did.
I feel like there is confusion about what a Terms of Service agreement is. I am not a lawyer, but this is my understanding of how it works: Fontspring, a service-provider, allows foundries to use our e-commerce platform to sell their typefaces. We are providing a service that has a legal contract guiding our behavior and our users'. Our willingness to host a foundry on our platform and a foundry's willingness to be on our platform are the "conditions" for the contract.
Part of the contract says that we reserve the right to make changes. It is reasonable to reserve some flexibility to stay operationally healthy and nimble.
That said, we recognize that not everyone will agree with changes we might make. Therefore we committed in the agreement to notify our users (based on the information they provide to us) when a change to the TOS occurs so that they can review and decide on their continued participation.
Perhaps we change the agreement to say we won't notify foundries any more. That change would be a good trigger for a foundry to terminate and find another distributor.
Perhaps we change the agreement to say that a foundry must provide 60 days notice to terminate. Another possible onerous trigger.
That is the beautiful tension of the TOS. It is in our best interest to keep and nurture valuable foundry-partners because it is good for business. So we have to do things that maintain and grow foundries' trust. They hold leverage over us in their ability to walk out the door. We are just one distributor of many.
Would you agree to rent a house or work at a job under a contract with a clause such as "Section 22"? Don't sign anything like that without proper legal advice or you will regret it later.
I disagree this is a helpful comparison. Rental agreements with landlords and tenants are highly regulated for good reason. Labor law, likewise is also heavily regulated. While we appreciate the idea that Fontspring could be so central to a type foundry's business, that is far from true. Many foundries thrive without any distributors. We are just one tool of many that you can choose to use, or not.
What should be in the agreement is a section that states that you can
leave this agreement at any time and also that this section of the
agreement must remain in every future agreement, unchanged.
I get this sentiment, kind of. The truth is that even if the termination clause was removed in a subsequent revision, you would still have the legal right to terminate the agreement. US courts would never allow a service provider to manipulate a TOS to keep a customer from terminating.
I guess this is going to be a good test to see how quickly the new team responds to our concerns. I'm assuming this isn't the sort of thing that Ethan can handle any longer, am I wrong?
It has always been a team effort, but sure, the team is a lot larger now. And lawyers. Looking. At. Everything. ( Except this post. )
Those of you on our platform with ongoing concerns are welcome to dialog here in the open (no I don't hate it at all), or contact me directly. ethan@--
I'm also not a lawyer but the suggestion that you need to say "we can amend the contract at a later date" in order to be able to do so in a mutual way is preposterous. Parties to a contract can always amend it. My understanding is that the reason you put into the contract is so one party can do so unilaterally.
Fontspring, a service-provider, allows foundries to use our e-commerce platform to sell their typefaces.
And framed in that way a service terms of use contract defined by the service provider seems like a reasonable and appropriate thing. There is another way to frame the business relationship, though, which is that the foundry, a manufacturer, allows Fontspring, a distributor, to sell their typefaces. In which case, I would expect the terms of distribution rights to be defined by the foundry and either accepted or not by the distributor.
There is another way to frame the business relationship, though, which is that the foundry, a manufacturer, allows Fontspring, a distributor, to sell their typefaces. In which case, I would expect the terms of distribution rights to be defined by the foundry and either accepted or not by the distributor.
Absolutely true. Some foundries we distribute have custom terms we agreed to in order to have the right to sell.
Comments
Yes, that is an entirely reasonable position to take.
What should be in the agreement is a section that states that you can leave this agreement at any time and also that this section of the agreement must remain in every future agreement, unchanged.
There's a button to push and it says you can leave this agreement at any time, but it should be in the agreement.
For those who don't know, when you upload a font to Creative Market, you have to upload a .zip file that includes all the files you want customers to receive, and all customers receive the same .zip file regardless of whether they purchase a desktop, ebook, web or app license. I literally had to write a README file that states: Files for desktop, ebook, web and app usage are included in this package. Please ensure you've purchased the correct license(s) for your usage.
I put the WOFFs in a folder titled web fonts (only for use with a web license).
I feel like there is confusion about what a Terms of Service agreement is. I am not a lawyer, but this is my understanding of how it works: Fontspring, a service-provider, allows foundries to use our e-commerce platform to sell their typefaces. We are providing a service that has a legal contract guiding our behavior and our users'. Our willingness to host a foundry on our platform and a foundry's willingness to be on our platform are the "conditions" for the contract.
Part of the contract says that we reserve the right to make changes. It is reasonable to reserve some flexibility to stay operationally healthy and nimble.
That said, we recognize that not everyone will agree with changes we might make. Therefore we committed in the agreement to notify our users (based on the information they provide to us) when a change to the TOS occurs so that they can review and decide on their continued participation.
Perhaps we change the agreement to say we won't notify foundries any more. That change would be a good trigger for a foundry to terminate and find another distributor.
Perhaps we change the agreement to say that a foundry must provide 60 days notice to terminate. Another possible onerous trigger.
That is the beautiful tension of the TOS. It is in our best interest to keep and nurture valuable foundry-partners because it is good for business. So we have to do things that maintain and grow foundries' trust. They hold leverage over us in their ability to walk out the door. We are just one distributor of many.
I get this sentiment, kind of. The truth is that even if the termination clause was removed in a subsequent revision, you would still have the legal right to terminate the agreement. US courts would never allow a service provider to manipulate a TOS to keep a customer from terminating.
It has always been a team effort, but sure, the team is a lot larger now. And lawyers. Looking. At. Everything. ( Except this post.
Those of you on our platform with ongoing concerns are welcome to dialog here in the open (no I don't hate it at all), or contact me directly. ethan@--