A freelancer created a logo using a paid font. Do you need a license?

Question

Fonts

A freelancer created a logo for my non-profit website with the prospect of monetization through advertising and the sale of a digital product. This logo uses the font Co Headline Corp .
Can you please tell me if I need to buy this font or some kind of license in order to use this logo only as a png image ?
The freelancer said he didn't have a license. I, in theory, could pretend to be a housewife and not even try to figure out which font is used. But I would like to know how the laws work in this area.
Is such use a violation and who is responsible for it - the freelancer or me?
Thanks in advance for the replies!

Answer 1

I'll take it from the comments to another answer, otherwise not everyone goes there:
Here is the official answer from fonts.com support:
Dear Sir or Madam,
The licensing depends solely on how you are going to be using the fonts.
When you are simply printing using the fonts, you are not actually making the font data available for the customer to use so you would not require any additional licensing.
For branding and web use, if you are going to be using the font in a jpg, GIF, static image etc the font data is now simply an image of the font which cannot be accessed by the customer or recipient. You are not distributing the font data therefore this is covered under the basic end-user license. If you will be embedding the fonts into an application or embedding the fonts on the web via CSS, @fontface, Cufon, Flash etc, you would require additional licensing. The same is true if you have an online application that will allow customers to submit text and it will render a preview in the typeface.
If you are going to be using the fonts within a commercial product, such as a video game, cell phone, product with a digital display, etc, an extended license is require.
Most fonts come with a 1-5 user license (see shopping cart for the number of licenses included with the font). This gives you the ability to install the fonts on up to 5 computers within a company. If you need more than 5, you would purchase a Multi User License. This can be done by choosing the number of users from the drop-down menu next to the item in the shopping cart.
The Monotype Imaging Inc, Standard End User License Agreement can be found at the link below:
www.fonts.com/info/legal/eula/monotype-imaging
In other words, you do not need a license to use an image created using a commercial font.

Answer 2

Font without the right to use - someone else's intellectual property. The designer does not have the right to use it, and you, knowing the fact of theft, do not have the right to buy it, even if it is part of the product (logo). Both you and he are responsible. But this is theoretical. In fact, in the case of a font, things are more complicated, because you can register the rights to the font file, but not to the style. Since, in fact, the style of a certain font is always a long historical process. The designer can always say that he drew it himself with an eye to the typeface such and such. On the web, there are a huge number of redrawn fonts from the coolest type designers, which they do not hide, sometimes the name of the old font is even present in the name of the new one.
In short, you have nothing to fear.

Answer 3

needed. paid font. you are the offender

Answer 4

Everyone who uses it must pay for the font, i.e. both the freelancer and you.