How to use font metadata for licensing compliance audits
- Step 1Inventory production fonts — Pull every WOFF2 and WOFF from your CDN. Note source URLs for the audit trail.
- Step 2Run the extractor — For each font, capture nameID 0 (copyright), 5 (version), 8 (manufacturer), 13 (licence), 14 (licence URL), and OS/2 vendor ID (achVendID).
- Step 3Match against EULAs — Cross-reference against your purchased EULAs and free-licence pool (SIL OFL, Apache 2.0, etc.). Flag any font without a matching record for legal review.
Frequently asked questions
What if the licence string is empty?+
Some foundries (Google Fonts especially) ship licence info via separate LICENSE.txt files alongside the binary. Check the upstream distribution; the binary alone may not be definitive.
What's the OS/2 vendor ID?+
Four-character vendor identifier registered with Microsoft. 'GOOG' = Google Fonts, 'ADBE' = Adobe, 'MONO' = Monotype, 'FNT1' = a generic placeholder. Useful for foundry attribution.
How do I batch-process the audit?+
Use the Node version of the JAD logic to run extraction across hundreds of files. Output CSV: filename, version, manufacturer, vendor ID, licence text, licence URL. Drop into a spreadsheet for legal review.
Privacy first
Every JAD Font tool runs entirely in your browser using opentype.js and the wawoff2 WASM Brotli encoder. Your fonts never leave your device — verified by zero outbound network requests during processing.