Design Asset Licensing Checklist 2026

Design Asset Licensing Checklist 2026

Before a third-party asset goes into client work, confirm nine things: commercial use is allowed, what attribution is owed, whether the raw file may be redistributed, whether it may be modified, whether the client can keep using it, what trademark or publicity limits apply, how fonts may be embedded, what AI output can and cannot promise, and that you saved a copy of the terms.

If you cannot answer all nine from the license text itself, the asset is not cleared yet. The rest of this page shows where each answer lives in the common licenses, how to record it, and what to hand the client at the end.

This is general information for working designers, not legal advice. For a contract dispute or a high-value brand asset, talk to a lawyer in your jurisdiction.

The nine checks, and where each answer is found

Checks 3, 5 and 6 are the ones a quick read of a download page tends to skip, and check 7 is the one that changes when the same design moves from a website to an app or a PDF.

Different assets fail in different places

"Free" describes the price, not the permissions. A free asset with a personal-use license is unusable in paid work; a paid asset with a single-seat license may not cover the second designer who opens the file.

A five-point commercial use test

Run these for each asset that survives a first look:

1. Can I use this in work I am paid for?
2. Can the client keep using the finished design after our contract ends, without their own license?
3. Can it appear in advertising, packaging or products that are sold?
4. Can I change it (crop, recolor, combine, trace)?
5. Can the raw asset travel with the deliverable, for example inside a source file, template or theme?

Many licenses answer yes to 1 to 4 and no to 5. That is workable as long as you know it before handoff: the finished design goes to the client, and the raw asset stays with whoever holds the license, or the client buys their own.

The common licenses, read from their texts

The table summarizes what each license's own text says. It is a reading aid, so check the specific license file shipped with the asset, since some creators add conditions.

Fonts: what the OFL actually allows

The SIL Open Font License 1.1 (dated 26 February 2007) grants permission "to use, study, copy, merge, embed, modify, redistribute, and sell" the font, subject to five conditions. The one that matters most in client work is the first: neither the original nor a modified version may be sold by itself.

The official OFL FAQ answers the questions designers ask most often:

• Logos and artwork. You may use OFL fonts for any kind of design work, and "You remain the author and copyright holder" of the resulting artwork (FAQ 1.1 and 1.1.1).
• Web use. Serving the font through @font-face is distribution, which the license "explicitly allowed" (FAQ 2.1).
• PDFs and documents. Embedding is allowed "either in full or a subset" (FAQ 1.12), and the document itself does not become OFL (FAQ 1.13).
• Subsetting and conversion. Subsetting is a modification. It is permitted, but the subset normally cannot carry a Reserved Font Name (FAQ 2.6). Converting to WOFF2 keeps the name only if the font data is unchanged apart from compression (FAQ 2.2.1).

Commercial foundry fonts are a different world. Desktop, web, app and embedding rights are often separate products, and web licenses may be metered. A designer's desktop license does not usually transfer to the client. Our commercial font licensing guide walks through EULA clauses and red flags.

Code-licensed icon sets

Many open icon sets ship under software licenses. Lucide, for example, publishes its icons under the ISC License, with icons derived from the Feather project under the MIT License; both require the copyright and permission notice to accompany copies. In practice, icons placed in a finished design are low risk, but a bundled app, theme or template that ships the icon files should include the license file. The free icons for commercial use guide compares the major sets. Emoji sets split the same way, with Twemoji graphics under CC BY 4.0 and Fluent Emoji under MIT, while Apple publishes no license for its emoji artwork; the guide to using emojis commercially has the per-set table.

Creative Commons: what attribution means in the text

CC BY 4.0 section 3(a)(1) asks you to retain the creator identification, copyright notice and license notice "if it is supplied by the Licensor". Section 3(a)(2) lets you meet those conditions "in any reasonable manner based on the medium, means, and context". Section 2(b) excludes moral rights, publicity, privacy, patent and trademark rights from the license. And section 6(a) ends your rights automatically if you fail to comply, so a missing credit is a real problem, not a courtesy lapse. Section 6(b) does let rights return if the slip is fixed quickly, which the section on slips after delivery works through.

CC0 is not "no rules at all" either. The CC0 1.0 legal code says no trademark or patent rights are waived, and the person dedicating the work "disclaims responsibility for clearing rights of other persons", which includes rights in a person's likeness.

People, places and marks: the rights a copyright license does not cover

Copyright licenses deal with the creator's copyright. They usually say nothing about the people in a photo, the building behind them, or the logo on a shirt. CC BY 4.0 and CC0 both say so explicitly; stock platforms usually address it in separate release and "sensitive use" terms.

Before using a photo with identifiable people in advertising or packaging, look for release information on the asset page. If there is none, use the image only where the platform's terms allow unreleased content (often editorial use), or replace it. The same applies to private property and to artwork visible in the frame. Our free stock photos commercial use guide shows how the major platforms label releases. Map and satellite screenshots are another case where the rules sit outside any asset licence: Google publishes separate print, web and video rules for Maps, Earth and Street View.

AI-generated material: what can be documented and what cannot be promised

The U.S. Copyright Office has published its report on copyright and artificial intelligence in three parts: Part 1 on digital replicas (July 31, 2024), Part 2 on copyrightability (January 29, 2025), and a pre-publication version of Part 3 on generative AI training (May 9, 2025).

The Office's announcement of Part 2 summarizes the position designers need. Outputs can be protected where "a human author has determined sufficient expressive elements", including where a human-authored work is "perceptible in an AI output" or where "a human makes creative arrangements or modifications of the output", "but not the mere provision of prompts." Using AI as an assisting tool does not by itself bar protection for the human-made work around it.

For client work, two practical rules follow:

• Do not promise exclusivity or full ownership of raw AI output. You may not hold rights you can transfer, and the tool's terms may allow similar outputs for others.
• Record the human work. Keep a project note with the tool and plan used, the date, prompt direction, source images you supplied, edits and compositing steps, and a saved copy of the tool's terms at that date.

That record does not make AI output protected, but it shows which parts are human authorship, which matters both for registration and for answering a client's questions. Our AI-generated images commercial use guide compares the platform terms.

Where the copyright guides take over

This checklist covers assets you bring in from others. Four companion guides cover the copyright questions around your own work, and each one answers a single question:

• Copyright registration for designers: should I register this piece with the U.S. Copyright Office, which application fits, and what does it cost? Read it when a design is valuable enough that you would want statutory damages if it were copied.
• Design copyright ownership and work for hire: when a client pays for a logo or website, who ends up owning it, and what has to be in writing for ownership to move? Read it before signing a contract or promising "full rights."
• Creative Commons licenses explained for designers: which of BY, SA, NC, ND and CC0 can go into paid work, and how should a credit line look in print, UI and merch? Read it before relying on any CC-licensed asset found through search.
• DMCA takedown notices for designers: someone is using my work without permission; how do I get it removed, and what happens if they push back? Read it when you find a copy online.

Worked example: auditing a landing page before handoff

Inputs. A five-section landing page for a client. It uses an icon set, one stock photo with a person in it, an OFL headline font, a device mockup from a marketplace, and an AI-assisted hero illustration. The client will receive the Figma file and a built site.

Two items needed decisions, and neither is visible in the design itself. That is the usual pattern: the problems sit in files and terms, not on the canvas.

The asset register: one row per asset

Keep a register from the first day of the project, not at the end. A spreadsheet or a table in the project docs both work. The columns below are enough for nearly every project:

Mark each row as approved, replace, or client must license separately. Anything still marked "replace" at final review blocks delivery.

The same rule applies to software terms: the free Affinity app, for instance, has a licence that points to Canva's account and content terms, which we read in is Affinity free for commercial use. Save those with the date, as you would a font licence.

Archive the terms before you ship

License pages change, and the version that protects you is the one in force when you downloaded the asset. Before delivery:

• save the license page as a PDF with the date in the filename;
• keep receipts and order numbers;
• capture the terms URL in a web archive such as the Wayback Machine;
• record the download date in the register.

If a dispute comes up later, you can show exactly what you relied on.

Vendor terms often change what the packet can contain. Adobe's font FAQ, for instance, lets a client open outlined or embedded files without a licence but not edit live text, which we break down by deliverable in the Adobe Fonts client work guide, and Canva allows one client transfer per design, covered in the Canva licence guide.

The client handoff packet

The packet sits alongside the design files and lets the client audit the project without calling you:

• the asset register, filtered to assets in the final deliverable;
• license files or PDFs for each asset;
• receipts where the license is tied to a purchase;
• attribution text and where it must appear;
• a short list of anything the client must license in their own name (commercial fonts for their team's desktops, mockup source files, stock images for new uses);
• notes on AI-assisted elements and what was promised about them.

When a credit or notice slips after delivery

Registers catch most problems before handoff, but not all. A brochure goes to print without the photographer's credit, or an app update drops the icon set's license file. What happens next depends on the license, and the texts differ more than most summaries admit. We re-read each of them on October 29, 2026.

CC BY 4.0 has a cure window. Section 6(a) says that if you fail to comply, your rights "terminate automatically". Section 6(b) then says they come back "automatically as of the date the violation is cured, provided it is cured within 30 days of Your discovery of the violation", or later only "upon express reinstatement by the Licensor." The clock starts when you discover the slip, not when it happened. The same section closes by saying that it "does not affect any right the Licensor may have to seek remedies for Your violations", so a quick fix restores the license going forward; it is not a promise that nothing is owed for the period before.

The OFL has no stated window. Its termination clause is one sentence: "This license becomes null and void if any of the above conditions are not met." The conditions mostly concern distributing the font files themselves, for example the copyright notice and license that must travel with each copy bundled into software, so the usual slip is a font file shipped inside a template or app without its license. The text says nothing about curing it.

MIT and Apache 2.0 set conditions but no termination for a missing notice. Their texts make the notice a condition of the permission, and neither describes a cure period. How a court would treat a missing notice is a legal question we do not answer here.

Two habits follow for the register. Add a "date discovered" and a "date fixed" column, because for CC BY material the gap between them is the number that matters. And when you find a slip on CC BY material, fix it before you investigate how it happened: a credit restored on day 3 sits well inside the window, while one left until a month of internal email has run its course may not. For example, a missing credit discovered on March 3 has to be restored by April 2 to fall within 30 days.

When to reject an asset

Reject or replace when:

• the license page is gone and no archived copy exists;
• the seller cannot explain whether commercial use is allowed;
• the terms forbid use by or transfer to a client;
• identifiable people or private property appear with no release information and the use is commercial;
• the file looks copied from a brand, film, game or another artist;
• the font license excludes the format you need (app, PDF, broadcast);
• the license is personal use only;
• the terms changed after purchase and you did not save the old version.

When the license is unclear

A vague or missing license is not permission. Ask the creator for written confirmation of the specific use, read the asset on the creator's own site where terms are usually clearest, and apply the most restrictive reading until you have an answer. If none arrives, choose a different asset with a clean license.

Edge cases and common mistakes

• Template and theme sellers. Most marketplace and stock licenses that allow use in a finished design forbid shipping the raw asset inside a product others download. If you sell templates, every included asset needs redistribution rights.
• Agency seats. A license bought by one designer may not cover colleagues. Check seat or user counts before sharing source files inside a team.
• Logos. Illustrations and icons used as part of a trademark are excluded by many licenses, and a client cannot register a mark built on someone else's asset with confidence. For logos, use your own artwork or assets whose terms allow logo use.
• "Royalty-free" misunderstood. It means no per-use royalty. It does not mean free of restrictions.
• ShareAlike in your own work. Combining CC BY-SA material into a design may require you to license the adaptation under compatible terms. The Creative Commons guide covers how that plays out.
• Accessibility assets. Icon fonts and illustrated UI pieces still need accessible names and enough contrast; licensing them correctly does not make them usable. The accessible color systems guide covers contrast for graphics and UI states.

Licensing questions designers ask

Can I use open-source icons in a paid client project?

Usually yes. MIT, ISC and Apache 2.0 all allow commercial use. The condition to watch is the notice: when icon files ship inside a codebase, theme or app, include the license file with them.

Can I sell a template that contains a mockup or photo I licensed?

Only if the license allows redistribution inside products that others download or buy. Many mockup and stock licenses allow the finished image but forbid packaging the raw file, so read the end-product clause before listing anything for sale.

Can my client keep editing the design in a commercial font I own?

Not on your license alone, in most cases. Commercial font EULAs usually license specific users or devices. If the client's team will open and edit the source files, they typically need their own desktop license. OFL fonts avoid this because anyone may use them.

Does CC0 mean I can use a photo of a person in an advertisement?

Not automatically. CC0 waives the photographer's copyright, but its legal code does not clear rights of other persons, which include a person's likeness, and it waives no trademark rights. Check for release information or keep such images to editorial uses.

Can I modify an OFL font for a client's brand?

Yes. The OFL allows modification. The modified font must stay under the OFL, cannot be sold by itself, and cannot use a Reserved Font Name without written permission from the copyright holder.

Will the client own an AI-generated illustration I deliver?

They can receive whatever rights you hold. Under the Copyright Office's Part 2 position, prompts alone do not create protectable authorship, so raw AI output may carry no copyright to transfer, while your selection, arrangement and modifications can. Describe what is human-authored and avoid promising exclusivity.

License texts and official guidance consulted

Every source below was read for this update, checked October 22, 2026. The OFL, CC BY 4.0, MIT and Apache 2.0 texts were re-read on October 29, 2026 for the section on slips after delivery.

• SIL Open Font License 1.1, official text: https://openfontlicense.org/open-font-license-official-text/ (checked October 22, 2026 and October 29, 2026)
• MIT License text, Open Source Initiative: https://opensource.org/license/mit (checked October 29, 2026)
• SIL Open Font License FAQ: https://openfontlicense.org/ofl-faq/ (checked October 22, 2026)
• Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 legal code: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.en (checked October 22, 2026 and October 29, 2026)
• Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 legal code: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode.en (checked October 22, 2026)
• CC0 1.0 Universal legal code: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode.en (checked October 22, 2026)
• Apache License 2.0: https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 (checked October 22, 2026 and October 29, 2026)
• Lucide license (ISC and MIT): https://lucide.dev/license (checked October 22, 2026)
• U.S. Copyright Office, Copyright and Artificial Intelligence: https://www.copyright.gov/ai/ (checked October 22, 2026)
• U.S. Copyright Office NewsNet 1060, Part 2 report on copyrightability: https://www.copyright.gov/newsnet/2025/1060.html (checked October 22, 2026)

One more read before handoff

Mockups are the asset type where the "finished image yes, raw file no" rule bites hardest, because the file itself is so often what a client asks to keep. Our free mockups for commercial use guide compares how the main sources word their end-product and resale clauses, so you can fill in that row of the register before the first presentation.