What can I do with OFL fonts?
Anything you wish! The only restrictions are on selling the font by itself, retaining all copyright and license information, and modifying fonts that have Reserved Font Names (RFNs).
Yes, you can use them for books, graphics, videos, websites, signage, objects, etc. - and you do not need to include the license, copyright, or any other acknowledgement. For more details see the FAQ below.
What do I need to do if I use an OFL font?
There is nothing you need to do if you want to only use an OFL font. If you want to give the font files to others, you need to include all original license and copyright information.
Specific answers from the OFL-FAQ
The following questions and answers are color-coded to help make it easier to understand, but please do click on the question to reveal the answer and read through the details. This is only a small subset of the questions and answers available in the OFL-FAQ. Please read the full OFL-FAQ for in-depth information.
Green
generally means yes.
Red
generally means no.
Yellow
means it depends on the situation.
Blue
means informational.
Yes. You are very welcome to do so. Authors of fonts released under the OFL allow you to use their font software as such for any kind of design work. No additional license or permission is required, unlike with some other licenses. Some examples of these uses are: logos, posters, business cards, stationery, video titling, signage, t-shirts, personalised fabric, 3D-printed/laser-cut shapes, sculptures, rubber stamps, cookie cutters and lead type.
No. You remain the author and copyright holder of that newly derived graphic or object. You are simply using an open font in the design process. It is only when you redistribute, bundle or modify the font itself that other conditions of the license have to be respected (see below for more details).
No. Font authors may appreciate being mentioned in your artwork’s acknowledgements alongside the name of the font, possibly with a link to their website, but that is not required.
No. Only the portions based on the Font Software are required to be released under the OFL. The intent of the license is to allow aggregation or bundling with software under restricted licensing as well.
The only situation in which an OFL font can be distributed without the text of the OFL (either in a separate file or in font metadata), is when a font is embedded in a document or bundled within a program. In the case of metadata included within a font, it is legally sufficient to include only a link to the text of the OFL on
https://openfontlicense.org, but we strongly recommend against this. Most modern font formats include metadata fields that will accept the full OFL text, and full inclusion increases the likelihood that users will understand and properly apply the license.
If you bundle a font under the OFL with your mobile app you must comply with the terms of the license. At a minimum you must include the copyright statement, the license notice and the license text. A mention of this information in your About box or Changelog, with a link to where the font package is from, is good practice, and the extra space needed to carry these items is very small. You do not, however, need to include the full contents of the font package - only the fonts you use and the copyright and license that apply to them. For example, if you only use the regular weight in your app, you do not need to include the italic and bold versions.
Yes, you are very welcome to integrate open fonts into themes and templates for your preferred CMS and make them more widely available. Remember that you can only sell the fonts and your CMS add-on as part of a software bundle. (See entry 1.4 for details and examples about selling bundles).
Yes! Go ahead! You could ask visitors to download and install the fonts, but loading the fonts dynamically as webfonts through CSS @font-face declarations is a much better method. The referenced fonts can be hosted on the same server as other site assets and content, or loaded from a separate webfont service. This is recommended and explicitly allowed by the licensing model because it is distribution.
Last updated on 24 January 2024