Xylora Studios creates design assets using our internal studio desktop licences, but end-client commercial licences remain the sole legal responsibility of the client. We specify the precise licensing requirements during production, and clients must purchase the appropriate seats or webfont pageview tiers before final launch.
Ownership and licensing tiers
Fonts are proprietary software protected by intellectual property law. A licence purchased by Xylora Studios covers our internal workstations within the Creative department; it cannot legally be transferred, sub-licensed, or shared directly with an external organisation.
Depending on your project scope, font licensing typically falls into three operational tiers:
1. Desktop licences: Required if your internal team intends to install font files locally to produce documents, marketing materials, or internal artwork in design applications or word processors. 2. Webfont licences: Required if the website or platform built by our Technology department serves custom font files dynamically to public visitors. These are typically metered by monthly pageviews or tied to specific production domains. 3. Application or digital product licences: Required if the font files are embedded directly into mobile applications, software-as-a-service (SaaS) products, or downloadable digital tools.
The font procurement sequence
Font selection and licensing adhere to a strict operational sequence during production to prevent delays to your launch timeline:
1. Typographic selection: During the concept stage, the Creative department presents typographic pairings. We evaluate commercial foundries and open-source alternatives against your functional requirements, brand identity, and anticipated licensing expenditure. 2. Specification handover: Once the typographic system is approved, Operations & Client Services issues a Font Specification Notice. This document outlines the exact foundries, typeface families, required weights, and estimated licensing tiers based on your anticipated web traffic or user seats. 3. Client purchase: You purchase the required licences directly from the type foundry or an authorised distributor under your organisation's legal entity name. 4. Verification: You provide proof of licence purchase or upload the legal font package via the portal. Operations & Client Services records the licence confirmation on your project file. 5. Technical integration: The Technology department incorporates the licensed webfont files, cloud font keys, or CSS stylesheets into the staging and production builds.
What the client must supply
To permit delivery and final deployment, your team must furnish:
- The legal name and billing address of the licence-holding entity.
- The receipt, invoice, or licence certificate issued by the foundry or distributor.
- For self-hosted web properties: the licensed web packages (specifically WOFF2 and WOFF formats) as downloaded directly from the vendor.
- For hosted webfonts (such as cloud foundry subscriptions or managed typography services): the project embed token or stylesheet link.
Studio working hours are Monday to Thursday, 09:00-17:00 GMT. Files submitted outside these hours are logged the following working day. The studio does not accept raw font files sent without documented proof of purchase, nor do we purchase third-party licences on your behalf using client deposits or milestone payments.
Open-source vs commercial typefaces
Where project budgets or ongoing maintenance models do not accommodate foundry licensing costs, we advise specifying open-source typefaces (such as fonts distributed under the SIL Open Font License or Apache License). Open-source typefaces carry no upfront or recurring licensing fees and permit commercial deployment without separate vendor procurement.
If you prefer to avoid third-party font licensing entirely, inform the Creative department during the brief review stage so design concepts are developed exclusively within verified open-source libraries.
Failure cases and delays
- Refusal to purchase licences: If a client declines to purchase the designated licence for a selected proprietary typeface, production on that element pauses. The Creative department will re-specify an open-source alternative. Rework required to refit layouts, hierarchy, and typographic styling is treated as an out-of-scope variation and requires a bespoke quote, issued within 48 hours of a revised brief.
- Missing webfont licences at launch: The Technology department will not deploy a production website using unlicensed proprietary font assets. If proof of purchase is absent at the scheduled deployment date, the launch is postponed or deployed using standard system fallback fonts.
- Font distribution liability: Under UK copyright law, distributing font files to unlicensed third parties constitutes copyright infringement. Xylora Studios does not package raw OTF or TTF files into final client ZIP handovers unless the foundry's End User Licence Agreement (EULA) explicitly permits studio-to-client transfer, which is rare.
Licensing checklist
- [ ] Typographic brief confirms whether proprietary or open-source typefaces are preferred.
- [ ] Font Specification Notice reviewed for required seats, domains, and pageview thresholds.
- [ ] Licences purchased directly from the foundry under your company's registered legal entity.
- [ ] Copy of the licence agreement or invoice submitted via the Ask Xylo chat on this portal.
- [ ] Licensed webfont packages or embed tokens delivered to the Technology department prior to staging freeze.