Clarification on Microsoft Yahei Font Usage in Printed Materials

Question

Could you kindly assist us with a licensing question?

The font owner has said that we can’t use font "Microsoft YaHei," "Microsoft YaHei Light," and "Microsoft YaHei Bold for commercial use.

Please find attached a request from the font owner, Beijing Founder Electronics Co., Ltd., which states that the license granted to Microsoft covers only the display and printing of content, and does not extend to commercial use.

As the Microsoft Yahei font is included with Microsoft 365, our company, Sulzer, has not obtained a separate license for it. We have used this font in printed product brochures for events and similar purposes.

We would like to confirm whether we are permitted to use the font in such brochures without acquiring an additional legal license.

Your guidance on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Best regards,

Jutta Tiilikainen

Graphic Designer, Sulzer Pumps Finland

Answer 1

Hi. While Microsoft YaHei and its variants are included with Microsoft 365 and Windows for display and document use, the font itself remains the property of Beijing Founder Electronics Co., Ltd. Our license to distribute the font does not grant users additional rights for commercial use beyond what’s permitted in normal document display or printing scenarios. Therefore, if the font is being used in printed marketing materials or other commercial outputs (such as brochures for events), we recommend obtaining a separate commercial-use license directly from the font owner to ensure compliance.

I hope this clarifies the licensing details — please feel free to reach out if you have any other questions!