To learn more about sub-licensing, click a topic below:
Personal, Commercial & Extended Commercial Licenses
Generally, sub-licensing is not permitted under the terms of the Personal License, Commercial License, or Extended Commercial License. However, some sub-licensing situations are permitted, as long as the person you are sub-licensing to understands they must comply with the terms of the license they are using. Here is how each license allows limited sub-licensing:
Personal License
Sub-licensing completed End Uses (such as End Products) of the licensed Asset for non-commercial use is permitted when:
- [NON-COMMERCIAL USE ONLY] You are getting your End Product printed, produced, or manufactured (such as if you take a completed End Product to a printer or other production partner for them to produce.) This third-party may use the End Product only for the purpose of producing/manufacturing. The third-party would not be permitted to reverse-engineer the file or extract elements for any other projects.
- [NON-COMMERCIAL USE ONLY] You are using a third-party to distribute your completed End Product to others.
- More information is found in the Personal License terms, section 7.
- If any third-party wishes to use the licensed Asset for other projects, they should purchase their own license.
Commercial & Extended Commercial Licenses
The following third parties are eligible for sub-licensing under specific conditions:
Production Partners
- You are using a third party to get your completed End Product marketed, produced, distributed, or manufactured.
- This third party may use your End Product only for these purposes. (The third-party would not be permitted to reverse-engineer the file or extract elements for any other projects.)
- For example, you may use distributors to manufacture or distribute physical products for resale or product packaging. Similarly, you may use third party providers, such as hosting providers, to host a completed website or website publishers to display completed digital advertisements.
Service Providers
- You are subcontracting service provider(s) to complete your End Project using the licensed Assets, as long as they comply with the license terms, and as long as you purchase 1 seat per service provider.
- For example, you might hire a graphic designer to customize a brochure template you purchased on Creative Market. While you own the license, the designer is permitted to use the template files and deliver the final End Project files to you. Since you own the license, the designer would not be permitted to use the template for other projects unrelated to your Project. If they wished to do so, they would have to purchase their own license.
Clients
- You are completing an End Product for a client with a licensed Asset (such as a completed website, advertisement, product, or product packaging, etc). You may transfer only the completed End Project to your client, and the client would be prohibited from extracting or reproducing the licensed Asset for other unrelated projects.
- For example, you get hired by a client to customize a brochure for them. You purchase a license for a brochure template from Creative Market and customize it, then deliver the completed brochure to them in a layered or flattened format. However, since you own the license for the brochure template, they would not be able to use the file for other projects outside of the original project scope. If they wished to do so, they would have to purchase their own license.
More information is found in the License Terms of the Commercial License and Extended Commercial License, section 7.
Font Licenses
The following third parties are eligible for sub-licensing under specific conditions:
Production Partners
- You are using a third party to get your completed End Product marketed, produced, distributed, or manufactured, as applicable/permitted by each font license.
- Delivering flattened graphics or graphics containing outlined fonts to your product partner is recommended. However, if your production partner requires layered End Product files with packaged fonts, you should make it clear that the fonts may not be used for any project, except to market, product, distribute, or manufacture your End Product.
- Additionally, the third-party would not be permitted to reverse-engineer the file or extract fonts for any other projects.
Service Providers
- You are subcontracting service provider(s) to complete your End Project using the licensed Fonts, as long as they comply with the license terms, and as long as you purchase 1 seat per service provider.
- Since you own the license, the provider would not be permitted to use the font for other projects unrelated to your Project. If they wished to do so, they would have to purchase their own license.
Clients
- You are completing an End Product for a client with a licensed font. You may transfer only the completed End Project to your client, and the client would be prohibited from extracting and using the licensed font for other unrelated projects.If they wished to do so, they would have to purchase their own license.
More information is found in the License Terms of the Desktop License, Webfont License, and EPub License, section 7, and the App License, section 4.
Again, all third parties using sub-licensed assets should fully understand the license terms. If any third-party wishes to use a sub-licensed Asset for other projects, they should purchase their own license.
Frequently Asked Questions
May I purchase an asset, then sub-license it to someone else without being involved in their design project?
In order to sub-license an asset to someone else, you should be involved in their project in some way; specifically, you should fall into one of these categories:
- You are a service provider in the project, such as a designer working on the project.
- You are the client in the project, actively involved in decision-making.
- You are an agency or corporation who employs designers that are working on the project. Keep in mind that you will need to purchase 1 seat per person who will be working with the licensed asset.
Any attempt to sub-license the asset to someone who does not involve you in the project in one of the above ways would be considered redistribution, which would not be permitted. In a case like that, it's best for this person to purchase their own license.
If I need to sub-license an asset to a production partner, service provider, or client, how does that work?
In order to appropriately sub-license an asset, you should take measures to:
- Clearly explain that the ways that the licensed asset may be used. You can learn more about specific sub-licensing terms in these sections of our Licenses:
- Personal License / Commercial License / Extended Commercial License: Section 7
- Desktop License / Webfont License / EPub License: Section 7
- App License: Section 4
- Clearly explain that the licensed asset may not be used in any way, outside of the scope of the project, or for future projects. Again, any wish to use the licensed asset for other projects requires a separate license.
- Deliver/transfer licensed asset files (or End Product files, as applicable) in a secure way, so that only the appropriate sub-licensee can access the files.
- If you are writing a contract for your project, it may be beneficial to include Creative Market's applicable licensing and sub-licensing terms as a part of the agreement. However, you should check with a legal professional for specific advice.
I have multiple production partners / service providers helping me with my project. Does that mean I need to purchase multiple licenses?
Yes; for each individual product partner or service provider to whom you are sub-licensing the asset, you should purchase a license.
I've sub-licensed an asset to my designer, but they've asked if they can use it for another project - is that allowed?
No; if the designer to whom you have sub-licensed an asset wishes to use the same asset for future unrelated projects, they will need to purchase another license on their own behalf. The asset you've sub-licensed to them can only be used within the scope of your specific project.