Website Font License: What Your Company Takes On

A website font license belongs to the company that owns the website, not to whoever designed the page. A font installed on your computer does not cover the web: using it on a website requires a webfont license. The same goes for images, with one more layer, the person pictured.

The bill goes to the company whose name is in the footer. A Brazilian design publication reported, in an article from July 16, 2026, that it was charged 138 euros for a font placed in the footer of a project by an outsourced developer. The company that tracked the usage asked for retroactive licensing of two weights from the family.

At Wama, the project is transferred to the client's account and the Framer subscription stays on their card, so it is the company's account that keeps the uploaded font files. It is worth checking this at delivery, not three years later.

Who is responsible for the font and image licenses on your website?

The company that publishes the website. Fonts and images go into the page as third-party assets, licensed for a specific use, and the license follows whoever exploits the content commercially. The provider who chose the typography may have made the mistake, but whoever answers for the page is the company whose name is on it.

This is different from owning what was created for you. In who keeps the code when software is custom-built, the discussion is about ownership. Here nobody created the font or the photo: you buy the right to use them, for a period, in a defined medium and volume.

According to Monotype, one of the world's largest type distributors, every font file is software protected by intellectual property, and at company scale it is easy to lose track of which font is where as agency partners come and go. The question belongs alongside the other questions you bring to the meeting.

Webfont license vs. desktop license: the difference that gets billed later

A desktop license covers installing the font on a computer and using it in materials: presentations, documents, printed artwork. It does not cover uploading the file to a web server, which is exactly what a website does. The web has its own license, the webfont license, almost always sold separately and sized by page views or by domain.

Framer's official help article on font licensing, updated on August 7, 2026, is straightforward: for a website, choose a webfont license, never a desktop one, and upload the files as WOFF or WOFF2. The same page recommends avoiding OTF and TTF on the web because they can cause licensing conflicts and performance loss.

The format matters twice. WOFF2 is the lightest and loads fastest, which feeds into the weight that poorly chosen files put on the page. And the delivered format often gives away the license: whoever sends a desktop TTF to put on the website probably did not buy a web license.

Is Google Fonts free for commercial use?

In practice, yes, for most of the catalog. Google Fonts are distributed under open licenses, and the most common is the SIL Open Font License. According to SIL itself, in version 1.1 of the license, published on February 26, 2007, you can use the fonts in books, posters, logos and websites, with no credit required.

The OFL also allows modification and redistribution, with one caveat: reserved names may require a modified font to change its name. For anyone hiring a website, the takeaway is simple. An open-catalog font is the risk-free path, which is why it is the default for almost every project that does not have its own brand typeface.

The platform already comes with Google Fonts and Fontshare built in, according to Framer's page on custom fonts, updated on the same date. Using what is already installed solves the problem before it exists, and costs nothing beyond the plan.

The brand font: what to ask for before uploading it to the website

When the brand has its own typeface, someone needs to buy the webfont license, and the name on the order should be the company's, not the provider's. A license bought in the agency's name follows the agency: if the partnership ends, the right to use may go with it, and the website keeps serving a file nobody is authorized to distribute.

Ask for three things before publishing: the file in WOFF or WOFF2, proof of the webfont license in the company's name, and the contracted limit, usually by monthly page views. That material fits in the same place where you describe the brand, when you record the font in the project brief.

In Wama's projects, the plan purchased on Framer is almost always Pro, and the font files live in that plan's workspace. Since the account is the client's, the font stays with them even if the provider changes. Check the plan where the font is hosted before signing.

Can stock images be used on a company website?

Yes, within what the stock site's license allows, and with one precaution the license does not solve on its own: the rights of the person pictured. The license you buy covers the copyright of whoever took the photo. It does not, by itself, authorize using the image of an identifiable person to sell a product or service.

In Brazil the bar is strict. Precedent 403 of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), Brazil's highest court for non-constitutional matters, approved by its Second Section on October 28, 2009, states that compensation for the unauthorized publication of a person's image for economic or commercial purposes does not depend on proof of harm. There is no need to show damage: unauthorized commercial use is enough.

The Brazilian Senate's Copyright Guide reinforces that an image published on a website needs authorization from the author and from the person pictured, and that a broad licensing contract does not remove responsibility for the context of use. Add to that the fact that stock sites' terms change with dates, like the June 2026 terms of one of the largest in the market.

Why does the problem show up years after delivery?

Because nobody audits their own page the next day. Irregular use is usually discovered when the brand grows, the website gains traffic and a license tracker identifies the font being served. At that point, the bill is not the price of the license you did not buy: it is retroactive licensing, with zero negotiating power.

Two moments concentrate the risk. The first is importing designs: according to the same Framer help page, files coming from Figma lose their original typography when it does not exist on the platform, and someone uploads any file to fix it. The second is migration, when the content that comes along in a platform move carries fonts and images of forgotten origin.

The handoff also matters. After delivery, Wama does not keep a monthly contract: the client takes on only the platform plan, with team training to use the CMS and a warranty period with free fixes. The license inventory is the kind of document that needs to survive that handoff.

What to write in the proposal and check at delivery

Licensing is a scope item, and scope is what the proposal writes down. At Wama, whatever is not in the proposal becomes an extra cost later, and the rule applies equally to copy, images and typography: who writes the copy, for example, depends on the tier you hire. Treating licenses as a detail only postpones the bill.

Three lines solve almost everything: who buys the webfont license and in whose name it is held; where the images come from and which license covers commercial use; and what happens to those files if the partnership ends. Add what is already included in the project budget and the conversation becomes honest.

At delivery, ask for the inventory: a list of the fonts served, the format of each file, the source of each image and proof of the licenses. After that, whoever edits the website starts swapping images on their own, so it is worth agreeing on who approves what goes in. It is the same rule as who in the company can touch the website after it is published.

Frequently asked questions about website font licenses

Do I need to buy a license to use a Google Fonts font on my website?

No. Google Fonts are distributed under open licenses, almost always the SIL Open Font License, which allows use on websites with no payment and no credit required. Still, check the license stated on the font's page, because the catalog brings together families with different terms.

Can a font installed on my computer go on the website?

Not necessarily. Being installed on the operating system does not grant the right to use it on the web. The website sends the font file from a server, and that use usually requires a webfont license, sold separately. Fonts bundled with office suites have already led to retroactive charges for exactly this reason.

Who pays if the agency uses an unlicensed font on my website?

The bill goes to whoever publishes the website, because it is the company that exploits the page commercially. You can settle responsibility with the provider through the contract, but that does not prevent the notice or the deadline to respond. That is why the license needs to be in the company's name from the very first file.

Can I use stock photos with people on my company's page?

It depends on the authorization of the person pictured, not just the stock site's license. STJ Precedent 403 waives proof of harm for compensation over unauthorized commercial use of a person's image. Reputable stock sites state when a model release exists. When in doubt, choose images where no one is identifiable.

How do I check which fonts my website serves today?

Open the website, use the browser's inspector and look at the font files loaded in the network tab. The family name and format show up there. With that list in hand, compare it with the license receipts you have on file and see what has no known source.

If you are closing a website project and want font and image licensing written into the proposal, talk to Wama and ask for the detailed scope.