Summary only, not legal advice. The licence text governs; confirm with the rights holder for your use. Read more
Paid ads
Static ads, HTML5 banners and campaigns.
Static ad images usually fall under desktop or standard licences; ads that embed live fonts often need a digital-ad licence.
Can I use it in paid advertising?
Fonts
| Source | Verdict | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Envato Elements | Allowed | Covered by the commercial licence as part of an end product.“This license grants you a non-exclusive, commercial, worldwide and revocable right to use the Item for:” help.elements.envato.com |
| Fontshare | Allowed | Digital advertising is listed.“You may use the Font Software in any media, including Print, Websites, Mobile or Desktop Applications, Digital Images, Digital Advertising, Social Media, ePublishing, Video, Broadcasting and Games, at any scale and in any location worldwide.” fontshare.com |
| Google Fonts | Allowed | Any design work is permitted, which covers ad creative.“Authors of fonts released under the OFL allow you to use their font software as such for any kind of design work.” openfontlicense.org |
| Adobe Fonts | Conditional | Static commercial designs are covered; HTML5/embedded-font ads are not specifically addressed.“Yes, you can use Adobe Fonts for commercial projects, including digital designs and print materials created for your own use or clients.” helpx.adobe.com |
| Creative Market | Conditional | Static ad artwork fits the Desktop EULA; ads embedding the font need the Digital Ads licence.“The Licensee is only permitted to embed the Fonts in Digital Ads using the @font-face syntax in CSS stylesheets.” creativemarket.com |
| MyFonts (Monotype) | Conditional | HTML5 ads with embedded fonts need a Digital Ad/Email licence.“You can use this type of license to embed fonts into digital ads, such as ads built using HTML5.” myfonts.com |
| Font Squirrel | Unclear | Not addressed; depends on each font's licence. |
| Fontspring | Needs manual check | Licence page blocked automated fetching; needs manual verification. |
Stock & content
| Source | Verdict | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Canva | Allowed | Advertising and commercials are listed.“invitations, advertising and promotional projects, including printed materials, product packaging, presentations, film and video presentations, commercials” canva.com |
| Adobe Stock | Conditional | Mobile advertising under 500,000 viewers on Standard; more needs Enhanced/Extended.“Include the asset in email marketing, mobile advertising, or a broadcast or digital program if the expected number of viewers is fewer than 500,000.” stock.adobe.com |
| Pexels | Conditional | Ads are allowed, but don't imply endorsement by people or brands shown.“Create unique ads, banners and marketing campaigns with photos from Pexels and promote your product.” pexels.com |
| Unsplash | Conditional | Brands, logos and recognisable people in a photo are not covered by the licence.“Note that the Unsplash License does not include the right to use: Trademarks, logos, or brands visible in an image” help.unsplash.com |
| Shutterstock | Needs manual check | Licence page blocked automated fetching; needs manual verification. |
AI image tools
| Source | Verdict | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Firefly | Conditional | General commercial-use statement; no use-specific clause.“For features without the beta label, you can use Firefly-generated outputs in your commercial projects.” helpx.adobe.com |
| ChatGPT / DALL·E (OpenAI) | Conditional | Ownership is assigned; no use-specific clause.“As between you and OpenAI, and to the extent permitted by applicable law, you (a) retain your ownership rights in Input and (b) own the Output. We hereby assign to you all our right, title, and interest, if any, in and to Output.” openai.com |
| Leonardo.Ai | Conditional | Commercial use allowed; ownership depends on plan.“Yes, you can use the images you generate on the platform for commercial purposes. This applies for free users too.” intercom.help |
| Midjourney | Conditional | As above; the US$1M revenue rule applies to company use.“Feel free to use them however you like, with just a couple of exceptions:” docs.midjourney.com |
| Ideogram | Unclear | Not addressed on the pages we checked. |