WARNING: ESPECIALLY DO NOT SEARCH TO DOWNLOAD FONTS LIKE HurmeGeometricSans3 FOR FREE!
Hurme Design may be an upstanding company – I don’t really know. And they might deserve to be paid for their products by me. But I don’t think so. Other companies like Font Radar will surveil the internet to make sure Hurme Design gets what it rightfully earned and deserves. The question I have is “Who should pay them fairly… the person that chose to use the font, or the person that owns the web-space where it was used?” If someone uses a font in a graphic and posts to Facebook or Instagram? Should the Social platform pay or the person that posted?
Herme Design’s EULA at the time of this post says: “”Fonts are identified by a serial number, for purposes of enabling their traceability” and also “To charge the Licensee with any compensation for the non-authorized use of the Fonts;” I am NOT a licensee. Someone just happened to use their font on my website (I removed it as fast as I could when I found out).
I believe this means the owner of the serial number should pay for this unauthorized use? Am I right? What does the law say about this? Should Font Radar be coming after me or the person that put it on my website without disclosing to me?
HOW IT ALL STARTED
This post is about hiring ANYONE for content creation – whether writing articles, blog posts, creating graphic images, logos, websites, themes, or anything perceived to come from you. This is what can go wrong that you never thought of.
A few years ago I hired a company to give my site “haleynutrition.com” a makeover. The company I hired out-sourced some of the work to another coder who used these fonts and possibly others:
- HurmeGeometricSans3 Bold
- HurmeGeometricSans3 Light
- HurmeGeometricSans3 Regular
- HurmeGeometricSans3 Semi-bold
-
I pre-paid for the work and I was satisfied with the design. I had no idea they used fonts that had to be paid for. Don’t get me wrong, Hurme Design may be a legitimate company and they have some good fonts… and they SHOULD indeed be paid fairly. But the person you hired might not think so!
famous 10 two letter word phrase:
“IF IT IS TO BE IT IS UP TO ME”
If you want it done right, you should do it yourself – don’t outsource web work because this could happen: (side note: this is not so much about Hurme Design and their fonts… it is about hiring people that might use them on your content without telling you. Hurme Design may find out and come after you – or hire someone to come after you.
A FEW YEARS LATER I GOT AN EMAIL THAT SAID THIS:
Hello,
My name is Lucas from Fontradar. Hurme Design, the owner of the typeface(s) HurmeGeometricSans3 that are currently in use on haleynutrition.com, mandated us to verify the validity of your font license.
Our licensing team wasn’t able to locate a license for your company/group in our records, so we’re simply checking in to ensure the above typefaces have been licensed, and if not, assist you with acquiring the necessary licenses.
If you’ve already purchased a license via one of our distributors, we kindly ask if you would send us a purchase receipt (a screenshot is fine). We will then update our records accordingly.
If you do not have a license for the typeface(s), we’d be happy to answer any questions you have about font licensing and assist you with purchasing a license. You can do so easily here: licenses.fontradar.com/s/67g6A
We know that font licensing can be a bit complicated, so please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any further questions or concerns. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter!
Best,
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Lucas Bailey
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Licensing department
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Contact (email address omitted for privacy) for credential verification.
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WHAT I DID ABOUT IT
After some polite back and forth communication with “Font Radar” including needing them to tell me where it was used (I’m not a coder and wouldn’t know) several others were CC’d on the emails… within a couple days I removed the fonts from my website. I also notified them of the company and person that was outsourced to that put this font on my website.
But they still emailed me this:
Hello,
Thank you for getting back to us!
Unfortunately, removing the font files does not solve the font license issue, as the website was already hosting the font(s) without the required licensing.
I’ve created an invoice using our lowest quotas (311,92€)
Please visit the following link to purchase the licenses: licenses.fontradar.com/s/mLEt1
If you have any questions, please feel free to reply. Thank you for your understanding and collaboration with us on this issue!
Best,
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Lucas Bailey
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Licensing department
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Contact (email address omitted for privacy) for credential verification.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
WHY I’M NOT BUYING THE LICENSE
Given the delivery and lack of options, I’m choosing to not do business with Font Radar and Hurme Design. The only option given to me so far is to pay for a license… which binds me to their EULA… which would prevent me from even sharing this newsworthy educational piece.
From what I see, the licensee has a responsibility. I am open to what the law says about this. Certainly they can hire lawyers and file suit… but that doesn’t mean there is law to back it up. I want an open honest communication and if the law says I owe, I am willing to pay the rightful amount. But I am NOT going to agree to their EULA… enter into a contract with them over this which is the only option I have been given so far.
THE TAKEHOME LESSON
When you hire someone else to create your content, you may be (or may not be!) liable for all the licensing requirements they failed to follow.
I am deciding to have someone audit my site for other possible infringements. It is true… people deserve to be paid when you use their creations. But if you use them unknowingly, I’m not so sure. I’m surely not ready to bend-over.
Hurme Design’s EULA can be found HERE: https://hurmedesign.com/licensing/ but may have changed. The chronology of their agreement can be found here: https://web.archive.org/web/20231215000000*/https://hurmedesign.com/licensing/
~ Michael Haley
Other Hurme Design Fonts you might want to check out include: Hurme Oval Sans, Hurme Tek No1, Hurme FIN Mono 1a and 1b, Hurme Fin 1a compressed condensed, narrow, and more, Hurme Geometric Sans No1, No2, No3 and No4 – check them out here: https://hurmedesign.com/homepage/catalog/ (but don’t download them for free unless they offer them for free with unlimited use!)
