henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) (11/01/88)
In article <13120@oberon.USC.EDU> crum@lipari.usc.edu (Gary L. Crum) writes: >By the way, is it legal to build and use a PostScript font from commercially >printed material using an outline-tracing tool? ... Pirating a font in this manner is not illegal in the US; font names are protected by trademark but font outlines are unprotected. The situation is different in some other countries. You may also want to consider whether what you propose is ethical, as opposed to merely legal. -- The dream *IS* alive... | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology but not at NASA. |uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu
richard@gryphon.COM (Richard Sexton) (11/06/88)
In article <1988Oct31.183632.14050@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes: >In article <13120@oberon.USC.EDU> crum@lipari.usc.edu (Gary L. Crum) writes: >>By the way, is it legal to build and use a PostScript font from commercially >>printed material using an outline-tracing tool? ... > >Pirating a font in this manner is not illegal in the US; font names are >protected by trademark but font outlines are unprotected. The situation >is different in some other countries. You may also want to consider >whether what you propose is ethical, as opposed to merely legal. Not only that, but apparantly the bitmaps and outline binaries themselves can't be copyrighted according to this little blurb: [**** begin included material ****] Well, here it is. Check out the Oct 11 issue of MacWeek, page 55: US Copyright Office Denies Protection for Digitized Typefaces "The US Copyright Office last month sent a resounding no to font publishers seeking copyright protection for digitized typefaces. "The decision, reached after almost three years of deliberation, denies type publishers copyright protection for 'computer instructions or data that specify fixation or depiction of typeface or letter form.'" It goes on to say that this not only covers bit-map font data, but outline font descriptions as well, and that the only current recourse for type publishers would be to go to Congress and get a law passed. The reason given for the decision is the Copyright Office's standing policy that typefaces lack original authorship and have a distinct utilitarian function. James Bayless New Horizons Software, Inc. [**** end included material ****] Does this mean I can go out and buy every font Adobe sells and slap "fabulous flying font brothers" on them and sell them as mine ? -- ``You must have an IQ of at least half a million'' -- Popeye richard@gryphon.CTS.COM {backbone...err, well connected site}!gryphon!richard
jimb@dhw68k.cts.com (Jim Bacon) (11/11/88)
In article <8443@gryphon.COM> richard@gryphon.COM (Richard Sexton) writes: >In article <1988Oct31.183632.14050@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes: >>In article <13120@oberon.USC.EDU> crum@lipari.usc.edu (Gary L. Crum) writes: >>>By the way, is it legal to build and use a PostScript font from commercially >>>printed material using an outline-tracing tool? ... >> >>Pirating a font in this manner is not illegal in the US; font names are >>protected by trademark but font outlines are unprotected. The situation >>is different in some other countries. You may also want to consider >>whether what you propose is ethical, as opposed to merely legal. > >Does this mean I can go out and buy every font Adobe sells and slap >"fabulous flying font brothers" on them and sell them as mine ? > My company is a supplier of fonts in soft and cartridge format for laser printers and we are very concerned about this too. I have recently dumped the data from an HP cartridge and from a competitors replacement and the only difference I found was the copyright noticed had been changed. The bitmaps and header data were identical in all other instances. I wrote to the Copyright Office, Washington D.C., attn: Dorothy Schrader, and received the actual policy decision from Sep. 28 this year. Ms. Schrader said that no recourse is possible thru copyright, but action might be brought along lines of fair trade practices, trade secret law, etc. of course, one can always sue the Copyright Office, she said also, and try to get the policy reversed in the courts. :-) It is irritating to see this practice of copying fonts permitted. We have invested a substantial amount of time into obtaining licensed fonts, and I do not like the prospect of having all of my products copied without my being able to stop it. Newsgroups: comp.fonts,misc.legal Subject: Re: copying fonts Summary: Expires: References: <8443@gryphon.COM> Sender: Reply-To: jimb@dhw68k.cts.com (Jim Bacon) Followup-To: Distribution: Organization: Wolfskill residence; Anaheim, CA (USA) Keywords: -- "Shoot first, and call whatever | Jim Bacon, Anacom General Corp. you hit the target!" | {turnkey,zardoz}!anacom1!jim L. Long | jim@anacom1.tcc.com
douglasg@hpgrla.HP.COM (@Douglas Genetten) (11/19/88)
It is, or at least has been, possible to get a typeface design patented. Check any old ATF specimen book; they're loaded with patents. I've heard the design has to be preceived as noticibly different than all others---by a layman. Someone did a thesis here at RIT on the subject. Doug Gennetten Rocheste read in the rsh man page where you can create a >.profile that can allow certain commands within rsh. Has anyone >done th