License clarification

[johan-moberg]

Hi Lucide team

First of all, thanks for the great work on Lucide, it’s a fantastic resource.

I’m looking for some clarification regarding the ISC license (and the included MIT-licensed Feather icons), specifically around how the copyright and license notice requirements should be interpreted in practical use cases.

From the license text:

“provided that the above copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies”

My understanding is that this requirement applies when redistributing the software itself (e.g. the icon set, SVG files, or a library/package containing them), rather than when using the icons as part of a design or end product.

However, there seems to be some uncertainty internally in our organization, so I’d really appreciate your guidance on how you intend this to be interpreted.

Concretely, I’d love clarification on these scenarios:

1. Using icons in a website UI

   • Do we need to include copyright/license text anywhere (e.g. footer, /licenses page)?
   • If yes, do we need to include copyright/license text on every page where we use the icons? or is it enough in a single page like a policy page or something like that?

2. Using icons in marketing materials

   • Examples: brochures, ads, social media posts
   • Is any attribution or license text required in these contexts?

3. Embedding icons in distributed products

   • For example: a website template, design system, or downloadable asset
   • Is including the license in documentation or a LICENSE file sufficient?

4. Optional attribution

   • Is attribution appreciated but not required in typical usage?

In short:

Is it correct to interpret the license as:

• No attribution required when icons are used as part of a final design (UI, print, social, etc.)
• License text required only when redistributing the icon files or library itself

Would love to hear how you recommend handling this in practice 🙏

Thanks again!

[Charlie284]

I would not rely on the proposed “final design” exception as written. Lucide's license does not define such an exception: the ISC condition says the notice must appear in “all copies,” and the MIT section says the Feather notice must appear in “all copies or substantial portions” of the listed Feather-derived icons.

Only the Lucide copyright holders can give an authoritative statement of their intended enforcement, and this is not legal advice, but a conservative practical approach is:

1. Website or app UI: keep the complete Lucide LICENSE that shipped with the version you used in your third-party notices. A single /licenses or “Open-source licenses” page/file distributed with the product is the usual practical location; the license does not say that a visible credit must appear in every footer or on every screen. Because browser SVG/JS assets are sent to users, I would treat them as redistributed copies rather than assume they are exempt output.

2. Marketing, print, and social images: the repository does not publish a special waiver for rendered artwork. If your organization needs a definitive answer for materials where carrying a notice is impractical, obtain written clarification from the maintainers or advice from your counsel instead of assuming no notice is required.

3. Templates, design systems, icon bundles, and downloadable assets: these are the clearest redistribution cases. Include the complete, unmodified Lucide LICENSE in LICENSES/, THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES, documentation, or an equivalent location that accompanies the download. Do not include only the short ISC paragraph: the repository's file also identifies the Feather-derived icons and contains their MIT notice.

4. Attribution versus license notice: a promotional credit such as “Icons by Lucide” is not required by the text. Preserving the copyright and permission notices where the license applies is the actual condition. A link or thank-you can be added voluntarily, but it does not replace the full notice.

Lucide's packages follow this same pattern: their build scripts copy the repository's complete LICENSE into the published packages. The authoritative text is the root license, including the Feather-derived icon list and MIT terms.