Introduction and Acceptance
Welcome to handwriting.digital, a subscription-based service offering fonts based on historical figures’ handwriting. By signing up for our service, you agree to the terms outlined in this End User License Agreement (EULA) for Commercial Use Subscription Tiers. Please read this carefully.
Note: This agreement is separate from our Non-Commercial EULA and governs commercial use only.
This Agreement is between you and
Digital Handwriting Font Library (handwriting.digital)
℅ Atelier Harald Geisler
Stiftstr. 16
60313 Frankfurt am Main
Germany
License Grant
Definitions
- Employee (FTE): Count full‑time equivalents across the whole company, including owners/partners. Aggregate part‑time staff to FTE (e.g., two 50% roles = 1 FTE). External contractors not on payroll are counted as employees.
- Annual revenue: Gross (top‑line) revenue for your last completed fiscal year, worldwide.
- For businesses operating less than 12 months, annual revenue estimates must be based on: Monthly recurring revenue × 12, OR Signed contracts/purchase orders for the coming 12 months, OR Business plan projections supported by market analysis. Estimates exceeding actual revenue by >25% may require tier adjustment.
- End client: The final company/organization receiving and using the deliverables. Subcontracting chains don’t change who the end client is.
- Product unit: One physical or digital item produced/sold that uses the fonts (e.g., one book sold, one T‑shirt printed, one downloadable file sold). Bundles count per item, not per order.
- Page view: One view of a page displaying content rendered with the fonts (typically as images/outlined text). Page view limits are monthly. Webfont embedding is excluded and requires a custom license.
License Categories
We offer two distinct commercial license categories:
In‑House Use: Commercial End-User License For businesses, organizations, and individuals using fonts directly for their own commercial materials, products, or services. Use by the licensee for the licensee’s own commercial materials, products, or services, not provided to third‑party clients.
Client Services: Creative/Agency License For creative professionals, agencies, design studios, and consultants who create commercial work for clients using our fonts.
Subscription Model
Commercial licenses are granted on a subscription basis with the following tiers:
In‑House Use – Commercial End-User License Tiers:
- up to 2 employees AND annual revenue under US$250,000
- up to 5 employees AND annual revenue under US$500,000
- up to 10 employees AND annual revenue under US$1,000,000
If your company’s usage exceeds the above thresholds, please get in touch with us to arrange a custom agreement.
Client Services – Creative/Agency License Tiers:
- up to 1 employee AND revenue under US$200,000
- up to 2 employees AND revenue under US$350,000
- up to 5 employees AND revenue under US$500,000
Clients must have fewer than 20 employees AND under US$1,000,000 annual revenue.
If your company’s usage exceeds the above thresholds, please get in touch with us to arrange a custom agreement.
Restriction: Creative/Agency licensees may only use fonts for projects where the ultimate end client (the final company/organization that will use or benefit from the work) has fewer than 20 employees and annual revenue under US$1,000,000. This applies regardless of contracting chains or subcontracting arrangements. If your company’s usage exceeds the above thresholds, please get in touch with us to arrange a custom agreement.
License Duration
All commercial licenses are valid for one year and auto-renew unless canceled. The license remains active as long as subscription payments are current.
Type of License
We grant you a nonexclusive, non-assignable, non-transferable, limited right and license to access and use the licensed fonts for commercial purposes within the scope of your selected license tier.
Commercial Usage Rights
In‑House Use – Commercial End-User Rights
You may use the fonts for:
- Company branding, logos, and marketing materials
- Business websites and web applications
- Commercial print materials (brochures, business cards, packaging)
- Digital advertising and social media content
- Internal business documents and presentations
- Products for sale (subject to embedding restrictions in Section 4)
- Video projects for your business
Client Services – Creative/Agency Rights
You may use the fonts to create commercial work for clients, including:
- Client branding and marketing materials
- Website and app design for clients
- Print design projects for clients
- Advertising campaigns and promotional materials
- Editorial and publishing projects
- Client presentations and proposals
Client Size Limitation: All client work must be for companies with fewer than 20 employees and annual revenue under $1,000,000. If your client’s usage exceeds the above thresholds, please get in touch with us to arrange a custom agreement.
Usage Limitations by Tier
- Up to 10,000 monthly website page views, up to 5,000 print copies, up to 2000 physical or digital product units per year (individual items produced)
- Up to 50,000 monthly website pageviews, up to 10,000 print copies per project, up to 3500 physical product or digital units per year (individual items produced)
- Up to 100,000 monthly website pageviews, up to 20,000 print copies per project, up to 5000 physical product or digital units per year (individual items produced)
If your company’s usage exceeds the above thresholds, please get in touch with us to arrange a custom agreement.
Commercial Use Exception – Martin Luther King Font: This font is not available for standard commercial licensing. To request commercial use, please submit your request through our custom form—requests will be sent to the Estate for review.
Commercial Embedding and Distribution Rights
Document Embedding
You may embed fonts in commercial documents (PDF, PowerPoint, etc.) for client delivery or distribution, provided:
- Fonts are subset to include only necessary glyphs
- Font data is protected/obfuscated to prevent extraction
- Documents are for the intended commercial use within your license scope
Web Embedding
Web embedding is not permitted. Please get in touch with us to arrange a custom agreement.
App and Software Embedding
Software or App embedding is not permitted. Please get in touch with us to arrange a custom agreement.
Examples (What’s allowed vs not allowed).
Allowed (within your tier limits)
- PDFs with fonts subset/obfuscated for delivery to clients or printers.
- Static images (e.g., PNG/JPG/WebP) rendered with the fonts.
- Vector artwork with text converted to outlines or paths (e.g., SVG/EPS/AI/PDF) without embedded font data.
- Presentations (PowerPoint/Keynote) where fonts are subset/obfuscated and not extractable by recipients.
- Design mockups delivered as images or non‑editable PDFs.
Not allowed (requires a custom license)
- Webfont embedding via @font-face (WOFF/WOFF2/OTF/TTF), including base64‑encoded fonts in CSS.
- Packaging font files inside apps, eBooks/EPUBs, games, OTT/TV apps, or software.
- Uploading or sharing font files with clients, vendors, or third parties (including CMS uploads).
- Editable templates (e.g., InDesign/Canva/Google Docs) distributed with embedded fonts recipients can reuse or extract.
- Sharing fonts through design system libraries (Figma/Sketch/Adobe Libraries) accessible to clients or third parties.
- Embedding font data in SVG as fonts (e.g., <font>/<glyph>), rather than outlined paths.
Need one of the above? Please contact us to arrange a custom agreement.
Restrictions
General Restrictions
- You may not redistribute, resell, lease, or sublicense the fonts
- You may not share font files with clients, contractors, or third parties
- Modifying or creating derivative works from fonts is prohibited
- Converting or reverse-engineering font software is not allowed
Revenue and Size Compliance
- Licensee warrants that their annual revenue and employee count fall within selected tier limits
- If your business grows beyond current tier limits, you must upgrade within 30 days
- Handwriting Digital reserves the right to request verification of company size and revenue
Agency-Specific Restrictions (Client Services)
- Client companies must meet size restrictions (under 20 employees, under $1M revenue) AND you must verify client eligibility before using fonts for their projects.
- Fonts cannot be provided to clients for their independent use
- If a client exceeds the restrictions of their current licensing, you will need to upgrade to a higher tier or contact us to arrange a custom agreement.
Backup and Storage
- Backups are permitted but must be deleted immediately upon subscription termination.
- Cloud storage is allowed for business continuity, but must remain secure.
- All copies must be deleted when the license expires or is terminated.
Enterprise and Custom Licensing
Companies or agencies that exceed the defined thresholds must contact Handwriting Digital for custom commercial licensing. This includes:
- Companies with more employees or revenue than tier limits allow
- Agencies working with large corporate clients
- High-volume or specialized commercial applications
- Global brands or multinational corporations
Please get in touch with us to arrange a custom agreement.
Termination and License Management
Subscription Management
Commercial subscriptions can be managed from your account page.
Termination Effects
Upon subscription termination or expiration:
- All use of the fonts and materials must cease immediately
- All font files and backups must be deleted
- Previously created printed work may continue to exist, but no new work or republishing is permitted.
- Renewal restores full commercial rights
Completed Work Rights
Work completed and delivered/published during active license period retains perpetual usage rights, including:
- Delivered client projects and materials
- Published marketing materials and websites (as static images/outlines)
- Sold physical products and printed materials
Prohibited After Termination
- Modifying/republishing existing work
Tier Changes
- Upgrades take effect immediately upon payment
- Downgrades take effect at next renewal cycle
- Failure to upgrade when required may result in license suspension
Ownership and Intellectual Property
All rights, title, and interest in the fonts remain with Handwriting Digital or the respective estate rights holders. This license grants usage rights only, not ownership.
Compliance and Verification
Self-Certification
By selecting a license tier, you certify that your company meets the requirements and will notify us of changes that affect your license category.
Audit Rights
Handwriting Digital may request verification of license compliance no more than once per 12-month period. We will provide 30 days written notice and limit requests to:
- Employee headcount verification
- Annual revenue confirmation
- Client size verification (Agency licenses only)
Verification may be satisfied by:
- Accountant-certified statements
- Tax filings (with sensitive data redacted)
- Statutory filings showing employee/revenue data
All information received remains confidential and will be used solely for license compliance verification.
Penalties for Non-Compliance
You must notify Handwriting Digital immediately upon exceeding license limitations. Failure to self-report overages results in:
Self-Reported Overages:
- 30-day grace period to upgrade
- Standard retroactive licensing fees for the excess usage period
Discovered Overages (non-self-reported):
- Immediate license suspension
- Retroactive fees at significantly increased rates (determined case-by-case)
- No grace period for compliance
- Potential legal action for willful infringement
All retroactive fees calculated from the date limitations were first exceeded.
Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability
The fonts are provided “as is” without warranty of any kind. Handwriting Digital’s liability is limited to the amount paid for the license in the twelve months preceding the claim.
Support and Refunds
Technical Support
Commercial license holders receive priority technical support on their account page.
Refund Policy
Commercial licenses are generally non-refundable due to the immediate commercial value provided. Refund requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis within 2 days of purchase.
Payment Terms
Payment for commercial subscriptions can be made through PayPal and Stripe. Failure to maintain current payments will result in immediate suspension of commercial usage rights.
Force Majeure
Neither party shall be liable for delays or failures in performance resulting from circumstances beyond their reasonable control, including but not limited to natural disasters, war, terrorism, government actions, internet outages, or other unforeseeable events. During such events, affected obligations are suspended until circumstances permit performance. If force majeure continues for more than 90 days, either party may terminate this agreement with written notice.
AI/ML Training Prohibition
The fonts and any associated documents may NOT be used for:
- Training artificial intelligence models
- Machine learning algorithms
- Neural networks
- Large language models
- Any automated systems that analyze, learn from, or replicate the fonts
- Creating training datasets for AI/ML purposes
- Style transfer/cloning
This prohibition applies regardless of whether such use is commercial or non-commercial.
Governing Law and Dispute Resolution
This Commercial License Agreement is governed exclusively by the laws of Germany. All disputes arising from this agreement shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in Frankfurt, Germany. By entering into this agreement, you expressly consent to personal jurisdiction in Germany and waive any objection to venue in the Frankfurt courts.
Privacy Policy
For details on how we handle personal data, please refer to our Privacy Policy.
Severability
If any part of this EULA is found to be unenforceable, the rest of the agreement will remain in effect.