🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <472@luna.prosys.se> ath@luna.prosys.se (Anders Thulin) writes:
>I am not certain if the statement refers to protection in general or
>to copyrighting in particular.  It may be that typefaces cannot be
>copyrighted, but I believe they can be protected.
>
>Some years ago a 'font vendor' in Germany did almost exactly what was
>suggested in an earlier note: printed large-scale letters, used them
>as originals for digitizing, and then marketed the 'new' typefaces
>under his own name. He ended up in court for infringement of
>whatever-right.
>
>Warning: I saw as a short notice in a Seybold report, so there are
>probably legal niceties that are missing. Still, Germany seems to be a
>country in which typefaces are protected.

In most countries, typefaces are indeed not copyrightable, and yes, Germany 
seems to be one of the few which do allow such protection (I believe that the
another is France). Charles Bigelow, who I think sometimes reads this list 
is something of an expert on the topic (most of my knowledge comes from two
of his articles, one in TUGboat, the other in Visible Language, and from a
conversation I had with him while I was at Stanford last month), and might
post something on the topic.

Font names are protected via trademarks (for example, Times Roman is a
trademark of I forget what company). However, this sort of thing is 
easily circumvented by using a similar or related name (e.g., tms rmn for
Times Roman, or Swiss for Helvetica).

Also, specific bitmaps may be protected in some countries, but again, this
can be easily circumvented (as per the example of the German rip-off, which
would not be illegal in the U.S.). Programs, e.g., PostScript outlines, 
Metafont code, etc. are protectable only insofar as it doesn't represent a
font. Thus the actual code may be protected, but not the output.

All of this varies from country to country.

My recommendation is that people use the original versions of fonts at all
times; this guarantees that the creator of the font will get the compensation
that they deserve, and that you will receive the quality of typeface that
you deserve.

-dh





		
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Don Hosek            | Internet: DHOSEK@HMCVAX.CLAREMONT.EDU
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