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Can OSX fonts be used commercially?

May I use the fonts that come with OSX for commercial texts and logos printed on paper, shown in commercial videos and made available for download as printed images in commerical PDFs?


I've looked everywhere for hours, but this is the only paragraph I could find in Apple's own EULA - and it doesn't say anything:


E. Fonts. Subject to the terms and conditions of this License, you may use the fonts included with the

Apple Software to display and print content while running the Apple Software; however, you may only

embed fonts in content if that is permitted by the embedding restrictions accompanying the font in

question. These embedding restrictions can be found in the Font Book/Preview/Show Font Info panel.


There's no relevant information in Font Book either; in most cases it just refers to "the EULA for the product in which this font is included", making it a catch 22...


So does anybody have links to reliable documentation about commercial use of fonts that come with OSX?

Posted on Mar 14, 2016 3:48 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 2, 2016 1:46 AM

Yes you can, this is an email from Apple;


'The fonts made available in Font Book may be used to create, display and print content on OS X running on a Mac. Such content may be used for either personal or commercial purposes. Users are, however, prohibited from copying and distributing the electronic font files made available in Font Book for use on non-Apple hardware.'


Hope that helps

12 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 2, 2016 1:46 AM in response to tonality

Yes you can, this is an email from Apple;


'The fonts made available in Font Book may be used to create, display and print content on OS X running on a Mac. Such content may be used for either personal or commercial purposes. Users are, however, prohibited from copying and distributing the electronic font files made available in Font Book for use on non-Apple hardware.'


Hope that helps

Feb 25, 2017 8:22 AM in response to d4SM

Looking through the software licensing agreement:


http://images.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/macOS1012.pdf


I found this regarding fonts:


E. Fonts.

Subject to the terms and conditions of this License, you may use the fonts included with the

Apple Software to display and print content while running the Apple Software; however, you may only

embed fonts in content if that is permitted by the embedding restrictions accompanying the font in

question. These embedding restrictions can be found in the Font Book/Preview/Show Font Info panel.

When dealing with legal questions, it is always best to get one's information from the source.

Mar 14, 2016 4:38 PM in response to tonality

Interesting - I'm sure that any legalese can be argued several different ways. Here is what I found:


Right at the beginning of the Software Licensing Agreement for El Capitan:


1. General.

A. The Apple software (including Boot ROM code), any third party software, documentation,

interfaces, content, fonts and any data accompanying this License whether preinstalled on Apple-

branded hardware, on disk, in read only memory, on any other media or in any other form

(collectively the “Apple Software”) are licensed, not sold, to you by Apple Inc. (“Apple”) for use

only under the terms of this License. Apple and/or Apple’s licensors retain ownership of the Apple

Software itself and reserve all rights not expressly granted to you. You agree that the terms of this

License will apply to any Apple-branded application software product that may be preinstalled on

your Apple-branded hardware, unless such product is accompanied by a separate license, in which

case you agree that the terms of that license will govern your use of that product.

and:

2. Permitted License Uses and Restrictions.


A. Preinstalled and Single-Copy Apple Software License.

Subject to the terms and conditions of this License, unless you obtained the Apple Software from the Mac App Store or under a volume license, maintenance or other written agreement from Apple, you are granted a limited, non-

exclusive license to install, use and run one (1) copy of the Apple Software on a single Apple-branded computer at any one time. For example, these single-copy license terms apply to you if you obtained the Apple Software preinstalled on Apple-branded hardware.


B. Mac App Store License.

If you obtained a license for the Apple Software from the Mac App Store, then subject to the terms and conditions of this License and as permitted by the Mac App Store Usage Rules set forth in the App Store Terms and Conditions (

http://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/ww/) (“Usage Rules”), you are granted a limited, non-transferable, non-

exclusive license:

i) to download, install, use and run for personal, non-commercial use, one (1) copy of the Apple Software directly on each Apple-branded computer running OS X Yosemite, OS X Mavericks, OS X Mountain Lion, OS X Lion or OS X Snow Leopard (“Mac Computer”) that you own or control;


(ii) If you are a commercial enterprise or educational institution, to download, install, use and run one (1) copy of the Apple Software for use either: (a) by a single individual on each of the Mac Computer(s) that you own or control, or (b) by multiple individuals on a single shared Mac Computer that you own or control. For example, a single employee may use the Apple Software on both the employee’s desktop Mac Computer and laptop Mac Computer, or multiple students may serially use the Apple Software on a single Mac Computer located at a resource center or library; and


(iii) to install, use and run up to two (2) additional copies or instances of the Apple Software within virtual operating system environments on each Mac Computer you own or control that is already running the Apple Software, for purposes of: (a) software development; (b) testing during software development; (c) using OS X Server; or (d) personal, non-commercial use.


My personal interpretation would be: since Apple treats fonts as part of the OS and the OS is only licensed to you, my answer would be: No, you cannot. However, to be sure, I would contact their legal team (use the contact us link at the bottom of every page) to get a definitive answer. In cases like this, I would not simply trust any other user's interpretation.

Mar 14, 2016 5:31 PM in response to babowa

Thank you for really digging into this, babowa -- much appreciated!


There's more room for interpretation in those terms than in the bible, but I agree with your conclusion, including the part about contacting Apple's legal team, which I did earlier today.


What I don't like is this: "Apple and/or Apple’s licensors retain ownership of the Apple Software itself and reserve all rights not expressly granted to you."


It would be so easy, and solve so many problems for so many people, to add the word 'commercial' to the EULA. Adobe knows that, for instance. So there's a probably a good reason Apple didn't do it...


I'll post their response here, if any.

Mar 14, 2016 5:48 PM in response to rccharles

Under this interpretation, you could not print a document because you would be using the font on another machine

Well, you actually could do that according to the boilerplate license for most fonts in Apple's Font Book: "You may use this font as permitted by EULA for the product [in this case Apple OSX] in which this font is included to display and print content."


So again, Apple would probably have added the word 'commercially' if they could. Stating the opposite, however, could be bad for business.

Can OSX fonts be used commercially?

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