And other deep questions about using fonts for self-publishing
Nothing in this post should be construed as legal advice.
I used so many search combinations to research this. Things like:
- which apple fonts can be used for commercial purposes
- what does the information in apple fonts mean for use
- fonts commercial use macbook pro
- do i need a commercial license for palatino font on macbook
And I discovered a lot of other people have the same question, but no one has a clear answer to whether or not I can use the fonts that came with my MacBook Pro to publish books for sale. Some people seemed to think they were giving an answer when they said “it’s all in the info tab in Font Book.” While the info tab talks about embedding and copyright stuff, nowhere does it clearly talk about licensing for commercial use for fonts that came with the Apple software.
Before I get to my own conclusions about how to proceed, here are links to some other people’s questions, as much for my own future reference as anything. If you haven’t learned much about this world of fonts, you are better off skipping down to the articles explaining the terminology and licensing issues.
Can OSX fonts be used commercially?
Best website to download a font for free? I need Palatino regular.
Font licensing is so confusing to me
I was able to compare the Apple-installed fonts with a couple of fonts in my Font Book that I had purchased. The purchased fonts had clear licensing information on the info tab. The Apple-installed fonts didn’t even have the word license on their info tab in my version of Font Book.


I tried searching for documentation that explained the terms in the info tab, but found nothing remotely helpful. Finally, I called Apple support and spoke with a very patient software troubleshooter. He looked at several things with me.
He looked up the terms of agreement for my specific operating system, which is Big Sur. Fonts are mentioned right away in the first section of general which says the fonts are licensed to the user, not sold. This is typical with fonts. Next we did a Command + f search for the word fonts in the rest of the document. It only comes up three more times, in section E, where it says:

At first this sounded hopeful, like I had purchased the license to use the fonts when I bought my computer. However, my friendly support person, though no legal expert, cautioned me about the way it was worded. He wasn’t sure if it meant I was only free to use the fonts while using Apple software, like Pages. If I was using third party software like Scriviner or Affinity, even if still on my MacBook, was it okay to then use the fonts for commercial uses? And even if the fonts could legally be used on the programs, could the things I produced on them be sold using those fonts?
To make things more complicated, I was reminded that just because I have purchased a license for a font, the licenses are often quite specific about uses. Even if a font is purchased, I need to make sure I paid for the licensing I want to use it for. And since the Font Book info tab only says “no embedding restrictions” on most of the Apple-installed fonts, commercial use still seems unclear.
The apparently AI generated information below showed up in my search about the font Palatino:

More on Open Font License (OFL) in a minute –
Besides needing to be aware of possible requirements of separate licenses for an ebook versus a print book, I might also be asked to project potential sales as a way to choose with level of licensing to pay for.
After some consulting with my graphic-arts-designer daughter and my patent-savvy-engineer husband, I decided to research free fonts and best fonts for self-publishing. I found a few useful articles and videos, which are linked below. It’s not that I’m opposed to purchasing a font, but I do try to be get the best bang for my buck.
I read some articles to better understand licensing, embedding, and about evaluating fonts for how easy they are to read. This last helped me notice things like spacing and flow of fonts I was looking at. As was frequently pointed out, a fun font is typically not fun to read for very long. Distinctive fonts, which we might call fun or creative, are best reserved for titles or t-shirts. Things that don’t involve blocks of text read to follow a story or get information.
Best Fonts for Print: 16 Top Options for Formatting
Locating Fonts for books, Fiction & Non Fiction?
KDP suggestions for paperback fonts
What Does Embedding Fonts Mean? – Demystified
Understanding Font Licensing: What You Need to Know
Font Licensing Simplified: The Basics of Font Usage for Brands and Creatives
A complete guide to font licensing for designers
Font Licensing for Designers: The Essential Guide
So, my hunt for OFL fonts began in earnest. First, I found this article:
Best Free Fonts for Commercial Use. I downloaded this bundle, then spent the time to make sure I had them all in a labeled collection, so I can find them easily.
Next, I looked at some fonts on Google Fonts. Here is a screenshot of what I downloaded. I also made sure to put them in a distinctive collection on my Font Book. If you want to know more about the history of OFL, go here: https://openfontlicense.org/history/

The video below gives an overview of websites that might have free fonts to one degree or another. I did not find all of these website equally easy to browse or navigate. He has links to them under the video on YouTube, but for ease and my own record keeping, I will also list them below.
https://www.bnicks.com/shop/serif
https://velvetyne.fr/ (This website was one of the harder ones to navigate and some of the favorites he mentioned are retired. I could still find them by following other links)
https://www.theleagueofmoveabletype.com
https://open-foundry.com/fonts
https://www.fontfabric.com/font-tag/free-fonts/
I warn you that the usemodify website uses thinly veiled profanity in its examples, so I am not linking to it here and will not be visiting it again.
https://www.awwwards.com/awwwards/collections/free-fonts/
https://www.behance.net/search?tracking_source=typeahead_search_direct&search=free+font
I am leaning towards using the Merriweather, from the Google OFL fonts, but before I make a final decision, I will create a document and type all of the contenders in order, to see them next to each other. I will then probably apply the final contenders to a paragraph in my latest book and see how it reads. I may ask for input from friends and family who are inclined to help.
The last link I will give is one in case you are interested in more history of fonts. This particular section is about the very popular Palatino, which I wanted to use for my book, but after all my research, I’m not sure I can. https://fontsinuse.com/typefaces/3361/palatino. In spite of all the headaches of trying to decipher the legalities, I still find fonts fascinating, both to just look at and to learn about. I’m not convinced that it is in anyone’s best interest to treat fonts as what is called intellectual property, but for now it is what it is and I will deal with it.
To see what I decided go to: Comparing Serif Fonts for Readability
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