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.
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Comments
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.