How to License Digital Products

by Legal Goodness October 09, 2022

Are you a creative that offers digital products? This includes designers, artists and anyone who offers images, illustrations, artwork or any type of digital template for sale to others.

If you create one of a kind work that you allow others to use or incorporate into their work, you should have license terms.

License Terms

So how do license terms differ from say, website terms?

By now you know I consider website terms a necessity. They consist of a Terms of Use and a Privacy Policy.

The Terms of Use governs how your website is used by visitors. And your Privacy Policy outlines how you keep your visitor’s information private after they visit your site.

Both are vital documents for ALL business owners with websites.

License Terms on the other hand are specific to what you sell, like images, templates, illustrations, etc. If you want to offer your work to customers but need to control *how* it is used AND maintain ownership, this is where license terms come in.

They are a creator’s best friend. They ensure that your hard work is shared with your customers while protecting your ownership. This template grants your customer a license to use your content (images, illustrations, artwork, template, etc.) digitally or via print when incorporated into their own projects or products.

Choose specifically where your content may be used such as on social media, websites, ads, books, e-books, product packaging, etc.

Allow your customers to select their license based on whether the content may be used only for personal use (not for profit) or solely for commercial use (for profit).

What is a License?

Think of it as permission to use something in a certain way.

For instance:

You can use my image but only digitally such as in your social media posts or Facebook ads. You cannot use this image to print 5,000 coffee mugs.

Same goes for templates. Many business owners offer all kinds of digital templates (calendars, planners, presets, etc.) for use by their consumers but without protections to keep them from being copied or ripped off.

Don't just give your work away.

As a creator, you may have different choices depending on what you’re licensing.

With a solid license terms template, you have the freedom to decide what to license, how many reproductions are allowable and whether to restrict your customers use to either personal or commercial.

Personal use vs. Commercial use

Now let's discuss whether to offer your digital product for "personal use" or "commercial use." You can offer both options and charge accordingly.

Select "Personal Use" if your customer is only allowed to use your work for personal reasons and not as part of a business that will sell an end product.

Personal Use Example: Customer uses your design in their wedding invitation.

Select "Commercial Use" if you will allow your customer to incorporate your work into their final product and then sell it.

Commercial Use Example: Customer uses your design as part of wedding invitations they sell on their business website.

License Terms Placement

These license terms can be linked in your website footer, product page and/or checkout.

You may wish to link these terms in multiple places to ensure your customer sees them and is aware of the terms.

Many online shops have checkboxes where customers can acknowledge receipt of the terms during checkout and this is a great place to insert your license terms for your digital product.

Just make sure you have them on your site and linked to your products. If you’re tired of selling your hard work without any protection at all (gasp!), get these terms on your website stat.