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Advice and answers from the freeicons team

License Overview

  • Written by Anu Dev
    Updated over a week ago

This article sheds light and provides information on the different types of licences available on Freeicons and also provides the basic Frequently Asked Questions about the licenses. For further Dos and Don'ts, walkthrough our License Overview here.

How to know where an icon holds the license agreement?

Once the page of the search results pulls out a list of icons as per your search keywords, each icon will hold individual information in regards to the license agreement. Each icon page will have the license terms. Click on the link to read it.

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What do you mean by the commercial usage of icons?

If icons bring you income then that would be referred to as the commercial usage of icons.

Can we go ahead and use the icons marked as “Free for personnel use icons” for commercial use or purpose?

It is not possible to use the icons that are marked as “Free for personnel use icons” for commercial use or purpose. But, there is always an option to contact the icon creator/designer and to get his permission to proceed with the usage of the icon for commercial purpose if he agrees to it.

We recommend you to the creator/designer (being the copyright owner) and get into an agreement in regards to the usage of that particular icon that you may require for commercial usage.

Is it possible to acquire a license for an icon if I pay for it to use for commercial purpose?

By paying for the icon you only get access for using the same as per your requirement and the copyright remains intact with the icon creator/designer.

However, contacting the creator/designer directly might help you in getting permission to use the icon for commercial purposes with the copyright owner's consent.

Does Freeicons have rights to permit us to use an icon as per our requirement other than from the ones mentioned in the license agreement?

No, Freeicons will not be able to permit you to use an icon as per your requirement other than from the ones mentioned in the license agreement

You would still require to connect with the creator/designer of the icon to get this permission as only the creator/designer will be able to assist you with this.

Is it possible to modify an icon that has been marked as “free for commercial use” before I use it for commercial purposes?

Yes, modification is possible for the icons that have been marked as “free for commercial use” as per your requirement before you use it for commercial purpose.

For more information about the same, please read the link License overview

When will I be intimated about crediting the icon creator/designer?

The license agreement should alone give you all the related information regarding the crediting of the icon creator/designer and also will the license name.

If the license contains the word attribution, then you may please be informed that this requires crediting the icon Creator/designer. It might be optional for other license types.

However, it is always considered as a courtesy if you may mention the creator/designer of the icons that you intend on using.

How do we go about with crediting the icon creator/designer?

You provide icon creator/designer’s name along with a link to their respective website or even to their Freeicons page.

Below given are some best examples on how to go about in crediting the icon creator/designer.

What is the given time period to use an icon that has been downloaded from freeicon?

The downloaded icons do not contain a given period or time frame, you are free to use it indefinitely as per your requirement, provided you abide by the license agreement of that particular icon.

Is using an icon as a logo a good idea?

Logos are meant to be unique. When it comes to icons, with zero uniqueness, using them for logos is not a great idea. Also since icons are license protected, it denies you to apply copyright on them which would be required for you to have a logo.

It is always better to get your logo designed by professionals. At Freeicons, we employ our best team of designers to provide custom logo design for you. All you gotta do is choose the designer based on their work profile, submit a design brief and voila! A customized logo will be designed for your dream business. Read more on that here.

Alternatively, if you liked one of our icons to be your logo then contact the respective icon designer. He/she will apply a few variations to ensure your logo is unique while meeting your expectations. Constant communication with designers can be made using our messenger at Freeicons. Once done, you can buy the icon and use it as your logo