Last updated: 12 November 2026
1. The historical archive
Fontarium preserves and offers the fonts of its historical archive, collected over nearly twenty years. The owner has confirmed the authorization to show these fonts in the tester and to offer them for download.
Each font page shows the font's usage status. Previews and downloads are only enabled once its permissions have been reviewed.
2. What Fontarium authorizes and what it doesn't
Fontarium's authorization allows it to run the archive, but it does not automatically grant anyone who downloads a font the right to:
- Use it in commercial or client work.
- Modify it or create derivative works.
- Redistribute it, sell it or include it in other collections.
- Embed it in a website (web fonts), an app, a video game or an electronic document.
- Use it in logos or brands, or in products for sale.
All of those uses depend on the license granted by the font's author or rights holder.
3. How to check the license
- Open the downloaded file and look for documents such as README, LICENSE, OFL.txt or similar. When they exist, they are part of the download and prevail over any Fontarium summary.
- Check the font's own metadata: many applications show the author, copyright and license in the file properties.
- If the font page includes the author's original reference, check the up-to-date conditions there.
- If you can't find enough documentation, contact the author and ask for permission before using the font in a public or commercial project.
4. Common license types
A historical archive mixes very different licenses. These are the most common ones and what they usually allow, as a guide:
| License | What it usually allows |
|---|---|
| Personal use (freeware) | Personal, non-profit projects. Commercial use requires a separate license. |
| Free for any use | Personal and commercial use, usually without permission to sell or redistribute modified versions. |
| SIL Open Font License (OFL) | Free use, modification and redistribution, including commercial, but not selling the font on its own. |
| Shareware or donationware | Trying the font; the author asks for a payment or donation to keep using it or for commercial use. |
| Public domain | Any use without restrictions, if the author has expressly waived their rights. |
This table is only a general guide. What counts in each case is the actual text of the author's license.
5. If there is no license
A missing license does not make a font free. By default, the author keeps all their rights. If a font has no documentation and you can't reach its author, keep it to personal, private use.
6. Authors and rights holders
If you are the author or rights holder of a font in the archive, you can write to hello@fontarium.com to:
- Add or correct authorship or license information.
- Replace the file with an updated version.
- Include a link to your website or shop.
- Ask for the font to be removed.
Clearly identify the font (name and page address) and prove that you are the rights holder or their representative. Removal requests are handled as a priority.
7. Not legal advice
The information on this page is for guidance only and is not legal advice. If you plan to use a font in a project with significant commercial implications, have its license reviewed by a professional. See also the terms of use.