Liccensing fonts for product design

Laura Meseguer
Laura Meseguer Posts: 12
in Type Business
hello all!
I wonder if you can advice me, maybe you have had such an experience before. An interior design company has asked me for the quote of licensing one or some of my existing fonts. They want to produce wood letters and sell them individually, or compose names with a script font. Obviously they can not get the single license, but which one will be fine?
Thanks in advance

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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0
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  • Nick Shinn
    Nick Shinn Posts: 2,295
    Not to disagree with your pricing James, but material, size, fixtures and production do constitute some of the value. Never mind the quality, feel the width, as they used to say in the schmutter trade (and perhaps still do).
  • Laura Meseguer
    Laura Meseguer Posts: 12
    Thanks James and Nick, so then, let's say that a good price for this can be the half of the enterprise, that's for one single font. It's the equivalent to more that +1000 users. l have been thinking that considering factors as non-exclusitity and limited duration are important and can also reduce the fee. What do you think?

    Thanks a lot for your help!
  • Georg Seifert
    Georg Seifert Posts: 681
    edited March 2014
    Just a random thought. What is the difference between someone printing a letter on a poster and someone that cuts the letter out of wood?
  • John Hudson
    John Hudson Posts: 3,504
    It's the difference between using a typeface, i.e. setting text, and making a derivative product of the typeface design.
  • Patrick Griffin
    Patrick Griffin Posts: 81
    So, if I typeset the ampersand from Font X on a piece of paper, cut it out, slather some glue on the back, and sell it as a sticker, I am making a derivative product?
  • James Puckett
    James Puckett Posts: 2,023
    So, if I typeset the ampersand from Font X on a piece of paper, cut it out, slather some glue on the back, and sell it as a sticker, I am making a derivative product?
    Yes.
  • Patrick Griffin
    Patrick Griffin Posts: 81
    Well then, someone stands to make a lot of money suing every single major font studio, pop-up books publisher, sign maker, and pretty much every router and/or 3D printer user out there.
  • Stephen Coles
    Stephen Coles Posts: 1,029
    edited March 2014
    Patrick, it's not about the physical attributes of the pr0duct, it's the fact that the core value of the resold product is the design of the letter/type itself.
  • Patrick Griffin
    Patrick Griffin Posts: 81
    Oh, I understand what's being said here, and I'm not disagreeing. I just think it's quite academic, though. Not to mention very confusing to font users, and pretty much unenforceable.

    The derivation from a single letter/shape idea is very understandable, but logically that same idea extends to multiple letter shapes used together (like a font is normally used) — hence my pop-up books, film props and signs comment. Trying to enforce special licensing conditions for each of these uses via EULA would alienate most users I know.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0
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  • Patrick Griffin
    Patrick Griffin Posts: 81
    To alienate users?
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0
    The user and all related content has been deleted.

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