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Started by Norman Walsh
Wed, 22 Sep 1993 11:55
comp.fonts FAQ: Diffs from last posting
Author: Norman Walsh
Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1993 11:55
Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1993 11:55
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Archive-name: fonts-faq/diffs
Version: 2.0.2
Diffs-from: comp.fonts FAQ v2.0.1
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***************
*** 2,7 ****
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The comp.fonts FAQ
! Version 2.0.1.
! August 12, 1993
Compiled by Norman Walsh
--- 2,7 ----
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The comp.fonts FAQ
! Version 2.0.2.
! September 17, 1993
Compiled by Norman Walsh
***************
*** 861,871 ****
Subject: 1.12. Typeface Protection
! [Ed: The following article was written by Charles Bigelow several years
! ago. In the past, I have resisted including this in the FAQ because I
! do not know the status of any copyrights that may exist on it.
! However, I've decided to assume that Mr. Bigelow would like to see it
! distributed as widely as possible so it's more-or-less acceptable to
! include it here. If anyone knows of a reason why I shouldn't include
! it, please let me know. norm 2/93]
Preamble
--- 861,866 ----
Subject: 1.12. Typeface Protection
! [This article first appeared in TUGboat 7:3 (October 1986), pp. 146-151.
! Reproduced with permission.]
Preamble
***************
*** 872,883 ****
========
! The main question of typeface protection is: Is there anything there
! worth protecting? To that the answer must certainly be: Yes.
! Typeface designs are a form of artistic and intellectual property. To
understand this better, it is helpful to look at who designs type, and
what the task requires.
! Who Makes Type Designs?
! =======================
Like other artistic forms, type is created by skilled artisans. They
--- 867,878 ----
========
! The main question of typeface protection is: "Is there anything there
! worth protecting?" To that the answer must certainly be: "Yes." Typeface
! designs are a form of artistic and intellectual property." To
understand this better, it is helpful to look at who designs type, and
what the task requires.
! Who makes type designs?
! -----------------------
Like other artistic forms, type is created by skilled artisans. They
***************
*** 887,904 ****
producing the type.
! Type designer and lettering artist are self-explanatory terms. Punch-
! cutter refers to the traditional craft of cutting the master image of a
! typographic letter at the actual size on a blank of steel that is then
! used to make the matrix from which metal type is cast. Punch-cutting
! is an obsolete though not quite extinct craft. Seeking a link to the
! tradition, modern makers of digital type sometimes use the
! anachronistic term digital punch- cutter. Calligrapher means literally
! one who makes beautiful marks. The particular marks are usually
! hand-written letters, though calligraphers may design type, and type
! designers may do calligraphy.
It usually takes about seven years of study and practice to become a
! competent type designer. This seems to be true whether one has a Phd.
! in computer science, an art-school diploma, or no academic degree. The
skill is acquired through study of the visual forms and practice in
making them. As with geometry, there is no royal road.
--- 882,899 ----
producing the type.
! ("Type designer" and "lettering artist" are self-explanatory terms.
! "Punch-cutter" refers to the traditional craft of cutting the master
! image of a typographic letter at the actual size on a blank of steel
! that is then used to make the matrix from which metal type is cast.
! Punch-cutting is an obsolete though not quite extinct craft. Seeking a
! link to the tradition, modern makers of digital type sometimes use the
! anachronistic term "digital punch-cutter". "Calligrapher" means
! literally "one who makes beautiful marks". The particular marks are
! usually hand-written letters, though calligraphers may design type, and
! type designers may do calligraphy.)
It usually takes about seven years of study and practice to become a
! competent type designer. This seems to be true whether one has a Ph.D.
! in computer science, a high-school diploma, or no academic degree. The
skill is acquired through study of the visual forms and practice in
making them. As with geometry, there is no royal road.
***************
*** 907,914 ****
A family of typefaces of four different styles, say roman, italic, bold
roman, and bold italic, is a major investment of time and effort. Most
! type designers work as individuals. A few work in partnership (Times
Roman(R), Helvetica(R), and Lucida(R) were all, in different ways, the
! result of design collaboration.) In Japan, the large character sets
! required for a typeface containing Kanji, Katakana, and Hirakana induce
designers to work in teams of several people.
--- 902,909 ----
A family of typefaces of four different styles, say roman, italic, bold
roman, and bold italic, is a major investment of time and effort. Most
! type designers work as individuals. A few work in partnership (Times
Roman(R), Helvetica(R), and Lucida(R) were all, in different ways, the
! result of design collaboration). In Japan, the large character sets
! required for a typeface containing Kanji, Katakana, and Hiragana induce
designers to work in teams of several people.
***************
*** 922,938 ****
to protect typefaces in the same way.
! The Problem of Plagiarism
! =========================
A lack of protection for typeface designs leads to plagiarism, piracy,
! and related deplorable activities. They are deplorable because they
harm a broad range of people beyond the original designers of the type.
! First, most type plagiarisms are badly done. The plagiarists do not
! understand the nature of the designs they are imitating, are unwiling
to spend the necessary time and effort to do good work, and
! consequently botch the job. They then try to fob off their junk on
! unsuspecting users (authors, editors, and readers). Without copyright,
the original designer cannot require the reproducer of a type to do a
! good job of reproduction. Hence, type quality is degraded by
unauthorized copying.
--- 917,933 ----
to protect typefaces in the same way.
! The problem of plagiarism
! -------------------------
A lack of protection for typeface designs leads to plagiarism, piracy,
! and related deplorable activities. They are deplorable because they
harm a broad range of people beyond the original designers of the type.
! First, most type plagiarisms are badly done. The plagiarists do not
! understand the nature of the designs they are imitating, are unwilling
to spend the necessary time and effort to do good work, and
! consequently botch the job. They then try to fob off their junk on
! unsuspecting users (authors, editors, and readers). Without copyright,
the original designer cannot require the reproducer of a type to do a
! good job of reproduction. Hence, type quality is degraded by
unauthorized copying.
***************
*** 939,953 ****
Secondly, without protection, designs may be freely imitated; the
plagiarist robs the original designer of financial compensation for the
! work. This discourages creative designers from entering and working in
the field. As the needs of typography change (on-line documents and
laser printing are examples of technical and conceptual changes) new
! kinds of typefaces are required. Creative design in response to such
needs cannot flourish without some kind of encouragement for the
! creators. In a capitalist society, the common method is property
! rights and profit. In a socialist (or, in the past, royalist) society,
! the state itself might employ type artists. France, as a monarchy and
! as a republic has had occasional state sponsorship of typeface design
! over the past 400 years. The Soviet Union has sponsored the design of
! new typefaces, not only in the Cyrillic alphabet, but also in the other
exotic scripts used by various national groups in the Soviet Union.
--- 934,948 ----
Secondly, without protection, designs may be freely imitated; the
plagiarist robs the original designer of financial compensation for the
! work. This discourages creative designers from entering and working in
the field. As the needs of typography change (on-line documents and
laser printing are examples of technical and conceptual changes) new
! kinds of typefaces are required. Creative design in response to such
needs cannot flourish without some kind of encouragement for the
! creators. In a capitalist society, the common method is property rights
! and profit. In a socialist (or, in the past, royalist) society, the
! state itself might employ type artists. France, as a monarchy and as a
! republic, has had occasional state sponsorship of typeface design over
! the past 400 years. The Soviet Union has sponsored the design of new
! typefaces, not only in the Cyrillic alphabet, but also in the other
exotic scripts used by various national groups in the Soviet Union.
***************
*** 956,974 ****
usually sold their designs to some large, exploitive corporation. It
is true that type designers, like many artists, are often exploited by
! their publishers, but plagiarism exacerbates the problem. Plagiarism
deprives the designer of decent revenues because it diverts profits to
! those who merely copied the designs. Plagiarism gives the manufacturer
yet another excuse to reduce the basic royalty or other fee paid for
typeface designs; the theme song is that the market determines the
! value of the design and cheap rip-offs debase the market value of a
! face. For those interested in the economic effects of piracy, it is
! clear that plagiarism of type designs ultimately hurts individual
! artists far more than it hurts impersonal corporations.
! Kinds of Protection for Type
! ============================
There are five main forms of protection for typefaces:
-
* Trademark
--- 951,968 ----
usually sold their designs to some large, exploitive corporation. It
is true that type designers, like many artists, are often exploited by
! their "publishers", but plagiarism exacerbates the problem. Plagiarism
deprives the designer of decent revenues because it diverts profits to
! those who merely copied the designs. Plagiarism gives the manufacturer
yet another excuse to reduce the basic royalty or other fee paid for
typeface designs; the theme song is that the market determines the
! value of the design and cheap rip-offs debase the value of a face. For
! those interested in the economic effects of piracy, it is clear that
! plagiarism of type designs ultimately hurts individual artists far more
! than it hurts impersonal corporations.
! Kinds of protection for type
! ----------------------------
There are five main forms of protection for typefaces:
* Trademark
***************
*** 982,994 ****
Trademark
! ---------
! A trademark protects the name of a typeface. In the U.S., most
! trademarks are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The R in a circle (R) after a trademark or tradename indicates U.S.
! registration. The similarly placed TM indicates that a trademark is
! claimed, even if not yet officially registered. However, a trademark
! may be achieved through use and practice, even without registration.
! Owners of trademarks maintain ownership by use of the trademark and by
litigation to prevent infringement or unauthorized use of the trademark
by others.
--- 976,988 ----
Trademark
! .........
! A trademark protects the name of a typeface. In the U.S., most
! trademarks are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The R in a circle (R) after a trademark or tradename indicates U.S.
! registration. The similarly placed TM indicates that a trademark is
! claimed, even if not yet officially registered. However, a trademark may
! be achieved through use and practice, even without registration. Owners
! of trademarks maintain ownership by use of the trademark and by
litigation to prevent infringement or unauthorized use of the trademark
by others.
***************
*** 996,1043 ****
As a few examples of registered typeface trademarks, there are Times
Roman (U.S. registration 417,439, October 30, 1945 to Eltra
! Corporation, now part of Allied); Helvetica (U.S. Registration
! 825,989, March 21, 1967, also to Eltra-Allied), and Lucida (U.S. reg.
! 1,314,574 to Bigelow & Holmes). Most countries offer trademark
! registration and protection, and it is common for a typeface name to be
! registered in many countries. In some cases the registrant may be
! different than the originator. For example, The Times New Roman (Times
! Roman) was originally produced by the English Monotype Corporation. In
! England and Europe, most typographers consider the design to belong to
! Monotype but the trademark was registered by Linotype (Eltra-Allied) in
! the U.S., as noted above.
Trademark protection does not protect the design, only the name.
Therefore, a plagiarism of a design is usually christened with a
! pseudonym that in some way resembles or suggests the original
! trademark, without actually infringing on it. Resemblance without
infringement can be a fine distinction.
! Some pseudonyms for Times Roman are: English Times, London, Press
! Roman, Tms Rmn. Some for Helvetica are Helios, Geneva, Megaron,
! Triumvirate. So far, there seem to be none for Lucida. There are
! generic typeface classifications used by typographers and type
historians to discuss styles, trends, and categories of design.
Occasionally these apparently innocuous classification systems are
! employed by plagiarists to devise generic pseudonyms, such as Swiss 721
! for Helvetica, and Dutch 801 for Times Roman. It is not certain whether
! this usage of a generic classification is more for clarification or for
! obfuscation. In general, the proper tradename is a better indicator of
! identity, quality, and provenience in typefaces than a generic name.
! Some people believe that the same is true for other commodities such as
! wine, where taste is important.
A trademark usually consists of both a proprietary and a generic part.
! For example, in the name Lucida Bold Italic, Lucida is the proprietary
! trademark part and Bold Italic is the generic part. The generic word
! type is usually understood to be a part of the name, e.g. Lucida Bold
! Italic type. Sometimes a firm will append its name or a trademarked
! abbreviation of it to the typeface name, to achieve a greater degree of
! proprietary content, e.g. B&H Lucida Bold Italic.
! A related matter is the use of the name of a type's designer. A firm
that ethically licenses a typeface will often cite the name of the
! designer - e.g. Stanley Morison (with Victor Lardent) for Times Roman,
Max Miedinger (with Edouard Hoffmann) for Helvetica, Charles Bigelow
! and Kris Holmes for Lucida. Although a person's name is not usually a
registered trademark, there are common law restrictions on its use.
The marketing of plagiarized type designs generally omits the names of
--- 990,1037 ----
As a few examples of registered typeface trademarks, there are Times
Roman (U.S. registration 417,439, October 30, 1945 to Eltra
! Corporation, now part of Allied); Helvetica (U.S. registration 825,989,
! March 21, 1967, also to Eltra-Allied), and Lucida (U.S. reg. 1,314,574
! to Bigelow & Holmes). Most countries offer trademark registration and
! protection, and it is common for a typeface name to be registered in
! many countries. In some cases the registrant may be different than the
! originator. For example, The Times New Roman (Times Roman) was
! originally produced by the English Monotype Corporation. In England and
! Europe, most typographers consider the design to belong to Monotype,
! but the trademark was registered by Linotype (Eltra-Allied) in the
! U.S., as noted above.
Trademark protection does not protect the design, only the name.
Therefore, a plagiarism of a design is usually christened with a
! pseudonym which in some way resembles or suggests the original
! trademark, without actually infringing on it. Resemblance without
infringement can be a fine distinction.
! Some pseudonyms for Times Roman are: "English Times", "London", Press
! Roman, "Tms Rmn". Some for Helvetica are "Helios", "Geneva",
! "Megaron", "Triumvirate". So far, there seem to be none for Lucida.
! There are generic typeface classifications used by typographers and type
historians to discuss styles, trends, and categories of design.
Occasionally these apparently innocuous classification systems are
! employed by plagiarists to devise generic pseudonyms, such as "Swiss
! 721" for Helvetica, and "Dutch 801" for Times Roman. It is not certain
! whether this usage of a generic classification is more for
! clarification or for obfuscation. In general, the proper tradename is a
! better indicator of identity, quality, and provenance in typefaces than
! a generic name. Some people believe that the same is true for other
! commodities such as wine, where taste is important.
A trademark usually consists of both a proprietary and a generic part.
! For example, in the name "Lucida Bold Italic", "Lucida" is the
! proprietary trademark part and "Bold Italic" is the generic part. The
! generic word "type" is usually understood to be a part of the name,
! e.g. "Lucida Bold Italic type". Sometimes a firm will append its name
! or a trademarked abbreviation of it to the typeface name, to achieve a
! greater degree of proprietary content, e.g. "B&H Lucida Bold Italic".
! A related matter is the use of the name of a type's designer. A firm
that ethically licenses a typeface will often cite the name of the
! designer-- e.g. Stanley Morison (with Victor Lardent) for Times Roman,
Max Miedinger (with Edouard Hoffmann) for Helvetica, Charles Bigelow
! and Kris Holmes for Lucida. Although a person's name is not usually a
registered trademark, there are common law restrictions on its use.
The marketing of plagiarized type designs generally omits the names of
***************
*** 1050,1066 ****
become generic names in the public domain. Trademark protection of
such names requires the addition of some proprietary word(s), as with
! these hypothetical creations, Acme New Garamond, or Typoluxe
! Meta-Baskerville.
Copyright
! ---------
Copyright of typefaces can be divided into two parts: copyright of the
design itself; and copyright of the font in which the design is
! implemented. In the U.S., typeface designs are currently not covered
! by copyright. This is a result of reluctance by the copyright office
! to deal with a complex field; by lobbying against copyright by certain
! manufacturers whose profits were based on typeface plagiarism; and by a
! reluctance of congress to deal with the complex issue in the recent
revision of the copyright law.
--- 1044,1060 ----
become generic names in the public domain. Trademark protection of
such names requires the addition of some proprietary word(s), as with
! these hypothetical creations, "Acme New Garamond", or "Typoluxe
! Meta-Baskerville".
Copyright
! .........
Copyright of typefaces can be divided into two parts: copyright of the
design itself; and copyright of the font in which the design is
! implemented. In the U.S., typeface designs are currently not covered by
! copyright. This is a result of reluctance by the copyright office to
! deal with a complex field; by lobbying against copyright by certain
! manufacturers whose profits were based on typeface plagiarism; by a
! reluctance of Congress to deal with the complex issues in the recent
revision of the copyright law.
***************
*** 1073,1079 ****
superiority in the laser printer industry, then American firms may do
an about-face and seek the protection of typeface copyright to help
! protect the domestic printer industry. Such a trend may already be
! seen in the licensing of typeface trademarks by Adobe, Hewlett Packard,
! IBM, Imagen, and Xerox in the U.S. laser printer industry.
In Germany, where typeface design has always been a significant part of
--- 1067,1073 ----
superiority in the laser printer industry, then American firms may do
an about-face and seek the protection of typeface copyright to help
! protect the domestic printer industry. Such a trend may already be seen
! in the licensing of typeface trademarks by Adobe, Hewlett-Packard, IBM,
! Imagen, and Xerox in the U.S. laser printer industry.
In Germany, where typeface design has always been a significant part of
***************
*** 1080,1157 ****
the cultural heritage, and where typefounding has remained an important
business, there are more than one kind of copyright-like protections for
! typefaces. Certain long-standing industrial design protection laws
! have been used to protect typeface designs in litigation over royalties
! and plagiarisms. Further, there is a recent law, the so-called
! Schriftzeichengesetz enacted in 1981, that specifically protects
typeface designs. New designs are registered, as is done with
copyright in most countries. This law only protects new, original
! designs. It is available to non-German designers and firms.
! Therefore, some type firms and designers routinely copyright new
! designs in West Germany. This gives a degree of protection for products
! marketed in Germany. Since multinational corporations may find it
! cheaper to license a design for world-wide use rather than deal with a
! special case in one country, the German law does encourage licensing on
! a broader scale than would initially seem to be the case.
France, like Germany, has ratified an international treaty for
! protection of typefaces. This 1973 Vienna treaty will become
! international law when four nations ratify it. So far, only France and
West Germany have done so, and thus a design must be protected
separately in each country. Even when the treaty becomes law, it will
! take effect only in those countries that have ratified it. The treaty
was principally the work of the late Charles Peignot, a French
typefounder, and John Dreyfus, an English typographer and typographic
! scholar. Presently, typefaces may be registered for protection in
France under a 19th century industrial design protection law.
In the U.S., there continues to be some movement for typeface design
! protection. A proposed bill that would protect the designs of useful
! articles, like type, has been in committee for several years. It seems
! to be going nowhere.
Digital (as opposed to analog) fonts may be protected by copyright of
! digital data and of computer programs. It has been established that
! computer software is copyrightable. Therefore, software that embodies
! a typeface, e.g. a digital font, is presumably also protected. There
! is some objection to this kind of copyright, on the grounds that the
ultimate output of the program or the result of the data (i.e. a
! typeface design) is not copyrightable. However, the current belief
expressed by the National Commission on New Technological Use of
! Copyrighted Works is that software is copyrightable even if its
! function is to produce ultimately a non-copyrightable work. Hence,
! typefaces produced by Metafont or PostScript(R), two computer languages
! which represent fonts as programs, are presumably copyrightable.
! Typefaces represented as bit-map data, run-length codes, spline
! outlines, and other digital data formats, may also be copyrightable.
! Some firms do copyright digital fonts as digital data.
Note that the designs themselves are still not protected in the U.S. A
! plagiarist could print out large sized letters (say, one per page) on
! an Apple LaserWriter, using a copyrighted PostScript digital font, and
! then redigitize those letters by using a scanner or a font digitizing
! program and thus produce a new digital font without having copied the
! program or digital data, and thus without infringing the copyright on
! the font. The quality of the imitation font would probably be awful,
! but it wouldn't violate copyright. Of course, the plagiarist would
! need to rename the font to evade trademark infringement. (As I write
! these words, I have the guilty feeling that I have just provided a
! recipe for type rip-off, but others have obviously thought of just such
! a scheme - John Dvorak has even proposed something like it in one of his
! columns.)
Design Patent
! -------------
The designs of typefaces may be patented in the U.S. under existing
! design patent law. Many designs are patented, but type designers
generally don't like the patent process because it is slow, expensive,
! and uncertain. Nevertheless, some type do get patented, and it is a
! form of potential protection. Note that this is Design Patent - the
typeface doesn't have to be a gizmo that does something, it merely has
! to be unlike any previous typeface. The drawback here is that most
attorneys and judges are not aware that there are more than two or
! three typefaces: say, handwriting, printing, and maybe blackletter.
Therefore, litigating against infringement is an educational as well as
! a legal process. It is easy to see that typeface theft is more subtle
than knocking over a liquor store; it may not be illegal and the
returns may be greater.
--- 1074,1152 ----
the cultural heritage, and where typefounding has remained an important
business, there are more than one kind of copyright-like protections for
! typefaces. Certain long-standing industrial design protection laws have
! been used to protect typeface designs in litigation over royalties and
! plagiarisms. Further, there is a recent law, the so-called
! "Schriftzeichengesetz" enacted in 1981, that specifically protects
typeface designs. New designs are registered, as is done with
copyright in most countries. This law only protects new, original
! designs. It is available to non-German designers and firms. Therefore,
! some type firms and designers routinely copyright new designs in West
! Germany. This gives a degree of protection for products marketed in
! Germany. Since multinational corporations may find it cheaper to
! license a design for world-wide use rather than deal with a special case
! in one country, the German law does encourage licensing on a broader
! scale than would initially seem to be the case.
France, like Germany, has ratified an international treaty for
! protection of typefaces. This 1973 Vienna treaty will become
! international law when four nations ratify it. So far, only France and
West Germany have done so, and thus a design must be protected
separately in each country. Even when the treaty becomes law, it will
! take effect only in those countries that have ratified it. The treaty
was principally the work of the late Charles Peignot, a French
typefounder, and John Dreyfus, an English typographer and typographic
! scholar. Presently, typefaces may be registered for protection in
France under a 19th century industrial design protection law.
In the U.S., there continues to be some movement for typeface design
! protection. A proposed bill that would protect the designs of useful
! articles, like type, has been in committee for a few years. It seems to
! be going nowhere.
Digital (as opposed to analog) fonts may be protected by copyright of
! digital data and of computer programs. It has been established that
! computer software is copyrightable. Therefore, software that embodies a
! typeface, e.g. a digital font, is presumably also protected. There is
! some objection to this kind of copyright, on the grounds that the
ultimate output of the program or the result of the data (i.e. a
! typeface design) is not copyrightable. However, the current belief
expressed by the National Commission on New Technological Use of
! Copyrighted Works is that software is copyrightable even if its function
! is to produce ultimately a non-copyrightable work. Hence, typefaces
! produced by Metafont or PostScript(R), two computer languages which
! represent fonts as programs, are presumably copyrightable. Typefaces
! represented as bit-map data, run-length codes, spline outlines, and
! other digital data formats, may also be copyrightable. Some firms do
! copyright digital fonts as digital data. % The copyright office is
! currently reviewing %this practice to determine if it is acceptable.
Note that the designs themselves are still not protected in the U.S. A
! plagiarist could print out large sized letters (say, one per page) on an
! Apple LaserWriter, using a copyrighted PostScript digital font, and then
! redigitize those letters by using a scanner or a font digitizing program
! and thus produce a new digital font without having copied the program or
! digital data, and thus without infringing the copyright on the font. The
! quality of the imitation font would usually be awful, but it wouldn't
! violate copyright. Of course, the plagiarist would usually need to
! rename the font to evade trademark infringement. [As I write these
! words, I have the guilty feeling that I have just provided a recipe for
! type rip-off, but others have obviously thought of just such a
! scheme--John Dvorak has even proposed something like it in one of his
! columns.]
Design Patent
! .............
The designs of typefaces may be patented in the U.S. under existing
! design patent law. Many designs are patented, but type designers
generally don't like the patent process because it is slow, expensive,
! and uncertain. Nevertheless, some types do get patented, and it is a
! form of potential protection. Note that this is Design Patent--the
typeface doesn't have to be a gizmo that does something, it merely has
! to be unlike any previous typeface. The drawback here is that most
attorneys and judges are not aware that there are more than two or
! three typefaces: say, handwriting, printing, and maybe blackletter.
Therefore, litigating against infringement is an educational as well as
! a legal process. It is easy to see that typeface theft is more subtle
than knocking over a liquor store; it may not be illegal and the
returns may be greater.
***************
*** 1162,1172 ****
Invention Patent
! ----------------
Methods of rendering typefaces can be patented as mechanical or
! electronic inventions. For example, the old hot-metal Linotype
machinery was protected by various patents, as was the IBM Selectric
typewriter and type ball. IBM neglected to trademark the typeface
! names like Courier and Prestige, so once the patents had elapsed, the
names gradually fell into the public domain without IBM doing anything
about it (at the time, and for a dozen years or so, IBM was distracted
--- 1157,1167 ----
Invention Patent
! ................
Methods of rendering typefaces can be patented as mechanical or
! electronic inventions. For example, the old hot-metal Linotype
machinery was protected by various patents, as was the IBM Selectric
typewriter and type ball. IBM neglected to trademark the typeface
! names like Courier and Prestige, so once the patents had lapsed, the
names gradually fell into the public domain without IBM doing anything
about it (at the time, and for a dozen years or so, IBM was distracted
***************
*** 1178,1182 ****
There is currently a noteworthy development regarding a patent for
outline representation of digital type as arcs and vectors, with special
! hardware for decoding into rasters. This patent (U.S. 4,029,947, June
14, 1977; reissue 30,679, July 14, 1981) is usually called the Evans &
Caswell patent, after its inventors. It was originally assigned to
--- 1173,1177 ----
There is currently a noteworthy development regarding a patent for
outline representation of digital type as arcs and vectors, with special
! hardware for decoding into rasters. This patent (U.S. 4,029,947, June
14, 1977; reissue 30,679, July 14, 1981) is usually called the Evans &
Caswell patent, after its inventors. It was originally assigned to
***************
*** 1184,1205 ****
Allied settled out of court, having paid an amount rumored to be in the
millions. Rockwell sold the patent, along with other typographic
! technology, to Information Internation, Inc. (III) which then sued
! Compugraphic for infringement. According to the Seybold Report, a
respected typographic industry journal, Compugraphic recently settled
! out of court for $5 million. Although many experts believe the patent
! to be invalid because of several prior inventions similar in concept,
! it nevertheless seems to be a money-maker in corporate litigation. The
! Seybold Report has speculated on which firms III would litigate against
! next. Among the candidates suggested by the Seybolds was Apple for its
! LaserWriter, which uses outline fonts. Since the entire laser printer
! industry and the typesetting industry is moving toward outline font
! representation, Apple is certainly not alone. The Seybolds further
! speculate on whether the difference between character-by-character CRT
! typesetting and raster-scan laser typesetting and printing would be
! legally significant in such as case. Ultimately, some firm will hold
! out for a court judgement, and the matter will be decided.
Trade Secret
! ------------
Given that typeface designs have relatively little copyright protection
--- 1179,1202 ----
Allied settled out of court, having paid an amount rumored to be in the
millions. Rockwell sold the patent, along with other typographic
! technology, to Information International, Inc. (III), which then sued
! Compugraphic for infringement. According to the Seybold Report, a
respected typographic industry journal, Compugraphic recently settled
! out of court for 5 million dollars. Although many experts believe the
! patent to be invalid because of several prior inventions similar in
! concept, it nevertheless seems to be a money-maker in corporate
! litigation. The Seybold Report has speculated on which firms III would
! litigate against next. Among the candidates suggested by the Seybolds
! was Apple for its LaserWriter, which uses outline fonts. Since the
! entire laser printer industry and the typesetting industry is moving
! toward outline font representation, Apple is certainly not alone. The
! Seybolds further speculate on whether the difference between
! character-by-character CRT typesetting and raster-scan laser typesetting
! and printing would be legally significant in such a case. Ultimately,
! some firm will hold out for a court judgement, and the matter will be
! decided. %Although the Evans & Caswell patent doesn't have much to do
! with %typeface copyright per se, it does make many font vendors nervous.
Trade Secret
! ............
Given that typeface designs have relatively little copyright protection
***************
*** 1209,1213 ****
is much more difficult to reconstruct the formula of Coca-Cola from its
taste than it is to reconstruct the design of Helvetica from its look
! on the page. The exact bitmap or spline outline of a digital font is
usually not reconstructable from the printed image, although CRT screen
fonts at usual resolutions (60-120 dots per inch) may be reconstructed
--- 1206,1210 ----
is much more difficult to reconstruct the formula of Coca-Cola from its
taste than it is to reconstruct the design of Helvetica from its look
! on the page. The exact bitmap or spline outline of a digital font is
usually not reconstructable from the printed image, although CRT screen
fonts at usual resolutions (60-120 dots per inch) may be reconstructed
***************
*** 1214,1280 ****
by patient counting and mapping of bits off a screen display. Typeface
licenses often contain stipulations that the digital data will be
! encrypted and confidential. Just as a firm will protect the secret of a
! soft drink recipe, so a type firm will protect the exact nature of its
! digital data.
Ethics
! ------
! Some typographers are motivated by higher principles than greed, profit,
! expediency, and personal interest. Idealists enthused with concepts of
! ethical behavior and a vision of typography as a noble art may find it
! distasteful to use plagiarized types. Some graphic designers insist on
! using typefaces with bona-fide trademarks, both to ensure that the type
! will be of high quality, and to encourage creativity and ethics in the
! profession. A consequence of plagiarism that is sometimes overlooked
! is a general erosion of ethics in an industry. If it is okay to steal
! typeface designs, then it may be okay to purloin other kinds of data,
! to falsify one's resume, to misrepresent a product, and so forth. Most
! professional design organizations attempt to promote ethical standards
! of professional behavior, and personal standards may extend to
! avoidance of plagiarisms.
- ATypI
- -----
-
The Association Typographique Internationale (ATypI) is an international
organization of type designers, type manufacturers, and letterform
! educators. Its purpose is to promote ethical behavior in the industry,
! advancement of typographic education, communication among designers,
! and other lofty aims. Members of ATypI agree to abide by a moral code
! that restricts plagiarism and other forms of depraved behavior
! (pertaining to typography). These are noble goals, but some members
! (especially corporate members) of ATypI, confronted with the pressures
! and opportunities of commercial reality, nevertheless plagiarize
! typefaces of fellow members, the moral code notwithstanding. Since
! ATypI is a voluntary organization, there is very little that can be
! done about most such plagiarism. Some years back, a world-famous type
! designer resigned from the ATypI Board of Directors in protest over the
! organization's flaccid attitude toward the plagiarists among its ranks.
! He has since agreed to sit on the board again, but criticism of the
! organization's inability to prevent type rip-offs by its own members,
! not to mention by non-members, continues to be heard. Moderates in
! ATypI believe that a few morals are better than none. It is not clear
! whether their philosophical stance derives from Plato, Hobbes, or
! Rousseau.
! Given the general attitude of the public toward copyrighted video and
software, it is doubtful that ethical considerations will hinder most
! end- users' attitude to plagiarized type fonts. A desire to have the
! fashionable label or trademark may be a greater motivation toward the
use of bona-fide fonts than an ethical consideration.
! Further Reading
---------------
! The State of the Art in Typeface Design Protection, Edward Gottschall,
! Visible Language, Vol. XIX, No. 1, 1985. (A special issue on The
! Computer and the Hand in Type Design - proceedings of a conference held
at Stanford University in August, 1983).
Der Schutz Typographischer Schriftzeichen, by Guenter Kelbel. Carl
! Heymans Verlag KG, Cologne, 1984. (A learned account in juridical
German prose, of the significance of the Vienna Treaty of 1973 and the
! West German Schriftzeichengesetz of 1981).
Disclaimer
--- 1211,1274 ----
by patient counting and mapping of bits off a screen display. Typeface
licenses often contain stipulations that the digital data will be
! encrypted and confidential. Just as a firm will protect the secret of
! a soft drink recipe, so a type firm will protect the exact nature of
! its digital data.
Ethics
! ......
! Some typographers are motivated by higher principles than greed,
! profit, expediency, and personal interest. Idealists afflicted with
! concepts of ethical behavior and a vision of typography as a noble art
! may find it distasteful to use plagiarized types. Some graphic
! designers insist on using typefaces with bona-fide trademarks, both to
! ensure that the type will be of high quality, and to encourage
! creativity and ethics in the profession. A consequence of plagiarism
! that is sometimes overlooked is a general erosion of ethics in an
! industry. If it is okay to steal typeface designs, then it may be okay
! to purloin other kinds of data, to falsify one's resume, to
! misrepresent a product, and so forth. Most professional design
! organizations attempt to promote ethical standards of professional
! behavior, and personal standards may extend to avoidance of plagiarism.
The Association Typographique Internationale (ATypI) is an international
organization of type designers, type manufacturers, and letterform
! educators. Its purpose is to promote ethical behavior in the industry,
! advancement of typographic education, communication among designers, and
! other lofty aims. Members of ATypI agree to abide by a moral code that
! restricts plagiarism and other forms of depraved behavior (pertaining to
! typography). These are noble goals, but some members (especially
! corporate members) of ATypI, confronted with the pressures and
! opportunities of commercial reality, nevertheless plagiarize typefaces
! of fellow members, the moral code notwithstanding. Since ATypI is a
! voluntary organization, there is very little that can be done about
! most such plagiarism. Some years back, a world-famous type designer
! resigned %the noted type designer Hermann Zapf from the ATypI Board of
! Directors in protest over the organization's flaccid attitude toward
! plagiarists among its ranks. He has since agreed to sit on the board
! again, but criticism of the organization's inability to prevent type
! rip-offs by its own members, not to mention by non-members, continues
! to be heard. Moderates in ATypI believe that a few morals are better
! than none. It is not clear whether their philosophical stance derives
! from Plato, Hobbes, or Rousseau.
! Given the general attitude of users toward copyrighted video and
software, it is doubtful that ethical considerations will hinder most
! end-users' attitude to plagiarized type fonts. A desire to have the
! fashionable "label" or trademark may be a greater motivation toward the
use of bona-fide fonts than an ethical consideration.
! Further reading
---------------
! "The State of the Art in Typeface Design Protection", Edward Gottschall,
! Visible Language, Vol. XIX, No. 1, 1985 (a special issue on "The
! Computer and the Hand in Type Design"--proceedings of a conference held
at Stanford University in August, 1983).
Der Schutz Typographischer Schriftzeichen, by Guenter Kelbel. Carl
! Heymans Verlag KG, Cologne, 1984. (A learned account, in juridical
German prose, of the significance of the Vienna Treaty of 1973 and the
! West German Schriftzeichengesetz of 1981.)
Disclaimer
***************
*** 1281,1300 ****
----------
! These notes were originally prepared at the request of Brian Reid for
! informal distribution. They are based on the author's review of
available literature on the subject of typeface protection, and on
personal experience in registering types for trademark, copyright, and
! patent. However, they are not legal advice. If one is contemplating
protecting or plagiarizing a typeface, and seeks legal opinion, it is
! advisable to consult an attorney. The term plagiarize and words derived
! from it are used here in its dictionary sense of to take and use as
! one's own the ideas of another and does not mean that the practice of
! typeface plagiarism is illegal; that is determined by the laws of a
! particular country.
! Charles Bigelow is a professor of digital typography at Stanford
! University and a professional designer of original digital typefaces
! for electronic printers and computer workstations. Mr. Bigelow and his
! partner Kris Holmes designed the Lucida typeface family which is now
! widely used on various laser printers.
--- 1275,1296 ----
----------
! These notes were originally prepared at the request of Brian Reid, for
! informal distribution. They are based on the author's review of
available literature on the subject of typeface protection, and on
personal experience in registering types for trademark, copyright, and
! patent. However, they are %While they result from careful research, no
! claim is made for accuracy; not legal advice. If one is contemplating
protecting or plagiarizing a typeface, and seeks legal opinion, it is
! advisable to consult an attorney. The term "plagiarize" (and words
! derived from it) is used here in its dictionary sense of "to take and
! use as one's own the ideas of another" and does not mean that the
! practice of typeface plagiarism is illegal, as that is determined by
! the laws of a particular country.
! The author is a professor of digital typography as well as a
! professional designer of original digital typefaces for electronic
! printers and computer workstations. He therefore has an obvious bias
! toward the inculcation of ethical standards and the legal protection of
! artistic property. Other commentators might have a different
! perspective.
diff -c2 v2.0.1/font-faq.11 v2.0.2/font-faq.11
*** v2.0.1/font-faq.11 Mon Aug 16 14:27:07 1993
--- v2.0.2/font-faq.11 Fri Sep 17 15:16:14 1993
***************
*** 8,12 ****
Subject: 9.1. Getting X11
! The standard location for X software is export.lcs.mit.edu.
Subject: 9.2. Historical Notes about X11
--- 8,12 ----
Subject: 9.1. Getting X11
! The standard location for X software is ftp.x.org.
Subject: 9.2. Historical Notes about X11
***************
*** 99,104 ****
They can be used in X11R5 based X servers and font servers because
IBM has donated a renderer for this format to the X Consortium.
! The renderer can be found on the X11R5 contrib, and on
! export.lcs.mit.edu.
* Speedo
--- 99,103 ----
They can be used in X11R5 based X servers and font servers because
IBM has donated a renderer for this format to the X Consortium.
! The renderer can be found on the X11R5 contrib, and on ftp.x.org.
* Speedo
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