Hi all. It's a long time since I've hit up a type forum! I wish I could post something more positive but I'm reaching out to hear others' experience dealing with Monotype and receiving all owed royalties. I've been with Monotype for about 5 years. I signed up to fulfil an OEM order which couldn't be completed on MyFonts where I have been for around a decade. I suspect a glitch with being payed royalties from sales on Monotype's sites (excluding MyFonts, as MyFonts has its own database which works for me).
I recently discovered I have no access to data in the Monotype vendor portal. I also haven't received a payment since fulfilling the OEM order 5 years ago. It strikes me as odd that email reports sent to me from Monotype indicate I am only owed an accumulation of puny royalties for their once available cloud fonts service which are below payment threshold. I am a very small time foundry but I have reason to suspect they're selling my type without paying me as I receive license inquiries and can see sales on MyFonts. I also managed to obtain a Linotype invoice from a designer who purchased an app license recently for my typeface. I was only able to do this because this friendly designer contacted me to ask where they could obtain an app license prior to the sale.
Before anyone draws any conclusions I make no accusations that Monotype is acting deliberately to not pay royalties. I am not looking to discredit them—I am just illustrating my issue to understand where I stand. It may very well be an isolated case.
I have been speaking with Monotype's email only foundry support for weeks but responses are slow, underwhelming and frustrating as I have to repeat myself and continually chase them up.
It'd be great to hear any experiences or advice how I might be able to solve this. This post may very well encourage you to check your reports as it took me quite a while to realise something was up.
Comments
I do not believe anything fishy is going on, but from what you said, I think I may know what's actually amiss.
First, what do you mean "I have no access to data in the Monotype vendor portal"? Why don't you, did you forget your login info? And why not contact them to reset your password or see what the issue is with your access?
But let's get to the main problems; and that is what are the exact reasons you have to believe something is not right. As I've gathered from your post they are as follows;
So, your first indication is basically "if my fonts are selling on MyFonts, they must be selling on Monotype". That is hardly the case. MyFonts is a much more visited site and the fact your fonts are actively being sold there does not mean they must be in demand on other smaller sites as well. Especially in your case, as you say you are a very small foundry, but more importantly "have no access" to the vendor portal, which means you haven't set up any promotions and discounts in past years, which are an important tool for building exposure.
Your second indication is
which is implying that you can confirm a sale has happened but was not reported to you, right? Well, what do you mean by "recently"? It is now mid-July, so something "recent" must have happened either in July, June, or even May. If it happened this month, how could it have been reported to you since you don't know your login info for the vendor portal? And if it happened in May or June, how could that be reported to you since it would be included in the quarterly report for the past quarter, which you will not receive until the end of this month? (Also, for some external sales on sister sites, I know it takes until the quarterly report for them to be stated, so even if you did have access to the vendor portal, it may not be entered until the end of the fiscal quarter in question.)
I know you are careful not to make serious accusations of fraud, and it is perfectly fine to question financial practices of a system you are not familiar with, but please first get your facts straight and write about any such problems you may have concisely and clearly, which would make it easier for us here to try and help you, and for Monotype to both explain their practices to you, and check if there is indeed any mistake. If you write in this manner I am not surprised their answers are "underwhelming and frustrating" and that you have to repeat yourself, because you are not explaining the situation well.
As a first step, you should have written to them about your problems with access to the portal and asked for a solution. Second of all, any inquiry about the missing funds should also simply state which exact indication you have something is wrong.
pS
2) Well aware that sales on MyFonts does not equal sales on Monotype. I'm only claiming how odd it is to be experiencing what I am experiencing overall. It doesn't make sense especially since app licensing is only available on Monotype sites (excluding MyFonts) and over the years have had multiple enquiries I have referred on. Consider that this experience accounts for those that have actually reached out to me.
3) You have made a fair few assumptions that don't stack up but in response to 'getting my facts straight': I feel everything I need to say I have said and have done so accurately. I'm seeking to be concise as I value the time it takes to read a post and reply!