djb@wjh12.harvard.edu (David J. Birnbaum) (01/30/89)
A number of rumors has been circulated here and in other newsgroups about the copyright protection extended to digitized fonts. I would be grateful if anyone could provide any reliable information about whether font names, bitmapped fonts, font outlines, scaling programs, individual characters, design features (e.g., serif design), or any- thing else related to digitized fonts can be protected by copyright. I have heard rumors that *nothing* pertaining to fonts is protected. At the other extreme, I have heard that font names are protected, so that you or I could not create and distribute a "Times Roman" font without paying a licensing fee. I would appreciate any reliable information anyone can provide. Please do not circulate rumors - I already have more of those than I need :-). One reference someone mentioned was an article about font copyright by Chuck Bigelow; a more precise pointer to where I could find this article would be very welcome. Any first hand information or pointers to informed articles, either in legal or computer litera- ture, would also be welcome. Please email all replies. I will summarize to this group if I learn anything worthwhile. Thank you. --David J. Birnbaum ================================================================== David J. Birnbaum djb@wjh12.harvard.edu [Internet] 11 Adams Terrace djb@wjh12.uucp [UUCP] Cambridge, MA 02138 USA djb@harvunxw.bitnet [Bitnet] 617-492-8511 [voice] Bitnet warning: Please address bitnet mail only to the address given above. No other bitnet address is reliable. Please do not trust the reply feature of your mailer to supply the correct address. =================================================================
eager@ringworld.Sun.COM (Mike Eager) (02/02/89)
In article <326@wjh12.harvard.edu> djb@wjh12.UUCP (David J. Birnbaum) writes: >I have heard rumors that *nothing* pertaining to fonts is protected. >At the other extreme, I have heard that font names are protected, so >that you or I could not create and distribute a "Times Roman" font >without paying a licensing fee. There are several different forms of protection for what the lawyers call intellectual property. These are: patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, and (the newest) semiconductor mask protection. Patent covers processes or inventions. It does not cover any natural laws or abstract procedures (such as a mathematical or physical law). Copyright covers the way something is expressed, but not the underlying concepts. Trademark covers the symbol or name used to identify a product in commerce. Trade secret covers information divulged in confidence to another under contractual limits. Semiconductor masks cover just them. The courts have held that it is not possible to copyright the alphabet, any alphabet. There is no protection for designs of any kind, such as fonts, computer architectures, dress patterns, building architectures, etc. A number of companies have tried to extend copyright into this area, with various success or difficulty. The names for fonts are like the names for other products. Helvetica is (I believe) a trademark of ITC. Just like Kleenex is a trademark for Kimberly-Clark. (If I got the wrong company, don't let their lawyers know.) I can make any tissue I wish; I just can't call it Kleenex. This is why the various companies which have developed sans-serif fonts which are similar (or identical) to Helvetica give them other names. Since Helvetia is the Latin name for Switzerland, one of the companies calls their font Swiss. --- Nolo Press has a paperback book on Intellectual Property protection. It's probably a good buy.