Introduction
As a typeface user, it’s not hard to find yourself on the wrong side of the law. If you use font software for which you don’t have a licence, supply a font to another user, or even licence font software and then use it on more computers than its licence allows, then you’re likely to be breaking software licences and copyright law. Remember that font piracy is an offence against both criminal and civil law passed by Parliament in the form of Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988, and amended by the Copyright (Computer Programs) regulations 1992, which came into force on 1st January 1993.

Part of the problem is that users do not perceive fonts to be the same as other software packages; and most users have so many fonts that they regard individual faces to be ‘tradable’, like cigarette cards. It comes as a surprise to some, then, to learn that distributing a font against the terms of its licence is just as illegal as pirating a copy of PageMaker or, frankly, shoplifting. Whilst the manufacturers have changed the way they have licensed their font software, the basic facts remain the same:

  • Typefaces, as embodied in font software, are the intellectual property of their designer.
  • When you pay for a font, you don’t own the font; you are paying for a licence to usethe font on a specific number of computers. Fontware can give you full details of multi-user licensing rules (and costs) for most fonts.
  • The font software licence agreement is a legally binding contract.
  • If you make an illegal copy of font software, you lay yourself and your organisationopen to severe penalties and criminal proceedings.
  • Even though you can distribute a document that requires a given font to other people,you can give them a copy of the font you used only if they have already obtained alicence to use that font. This includes repro houses, colour proofing companies,friends and colleagues. It is no excuse to say that they needed the font in order to print your work.
Typeface Licensing How do I go about licensing my typefaces?
Historically, the major type foundries have licensed their font products by printer, meaning that anyone who shared a printer in an office environment would be allowed to share the font files as well. This licensing policy was implemented during the early days of electronic fonts, well before the invention of Adobe Type Manager (ATM), when only bitmapped fonts were used to represent typefaces on the computer screen and the outline font was only used in PostScript language printers. When ATM came along, outline font files could be used on the computers as well as in the printer (and could also be used in non-PostScript printers). The major type foundries, led by Adobe Systems, have changed their font licensing policy to reflect this change in use. Now font software is licensed for use on computer rather than by printer.This means that, rather than counting the number of printers it will be used with when purchasing a licence for a font, the customer counts the number of computers the font will be used with. It also means that the font software is now licensed the same way as application software licensing for the customer. Fontware can provide you, the customer, with the ability to licence type from over 70 manufacturers and foundries from around the world. Talk to us about your situation and we will help.

 

 

For FAQ on font licensing click here
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