posted
In a differet post, Fred Weiss mentioned about Font priracy. So is that why we have so many of the same fonts with different names? Twice, that I could remember, I have had people ask for a font, by name, and found it in my Corel fonts with a different name. So how do you know if it's prirated or not? And is this a real ligitimate law breaking thing we got here? Arrr, beware thee font prirates ye maties.
-------------------- Signs by Alicia Jennings (Mudflap Girl) Tacoma, WA Since 1987 Have Lipstick, will travel. Posts: 3813 | From: Tacoma, WA. U.S.A. | Registered: Dec 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
From what i understand, only the name is protected, not the font. So ... what they do is come up with a similar name and make some minute changes...Voila...a new font!
-------------------- Si Allen #562 La Mirada, CA. USA
(714) 521-4810
si.allen on Skype
siallen@dslextreme.com
"SignPainters do It with Longer Strokes!"
Never mess with your profile while in a drunken stupor!!!
Brushasaurus on Chat Posts: 8827 | From: La Mirada, CA, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
posted
HELVETIC=ARIAL BRUSH SCRIPT=BRUSH HAND COOPER=COOPERTON COMMERCIAL SCRIPT=FANCY SCRIPT on and on and on.................
-------------------- joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 2811 longleaf Dr. pensacola, fl 32526 850-637-1519 BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND Posts: 11582 | From: pensacola, fl. usa | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
posted
Ariel is NOT Helvetica. It is not even a similar look alike but has so many differences, I could go on for hours. Swiss 721 is what you are looking for.
Yes, on and on and on...
-------------------- Bruce Bowers
DrCAS Custom Lettering and Design Saint Cloud, Minnesota
"Things work out best for the people who make the best of the way things work out." - Art Linkletter Posts: 6451 | From: Saint Cloud, Minnesota | Registered: Jun 1999
| IP: Logged |
My mind wanders. And that's not a good thing, 'cause it's too small to be out there alone. Posts: 3129 | From: Tooele, UT | Registered: Mar 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Fonts are software. Each font is a short software program and protected under intellectual property law and are subject to the same legal usage restrictions as any other software.
Yes, there are "similar" free fonts to many of the standards out there, but may have flaws in them. If you are cutting vinyl, they often have overlapping cuts and rough corners, making node editing a must. The commercial fonts are worth paying for. Just the time saved in making corrections to the "freebies" alone is worth the cost.
Rapid
-------------------- Ray Rheaume Rapidfire Design 543 Brushwood Road North Haverhill, NH 03774 rapidfiredesign@hotmail.com 603-787-6803
I like my paint shaken, not stirred. Posts: 5648 | From: North Haverhill, New Hampshire | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
From my understanding, the part of the fonts that is protected is the way it is produced. In other words, the placement of the nodes on the curves, the kerning inherent in the program, whatever process the fontmaker used to produce that particular font, and the name. Other than that though, it seems to be fair game. I guess if you scan, plot and kern your version of Helvetica, you could call it whatever you want.
-------------------- Gene Golden Gettysburg Signs Gettysburg PA 17325 717-334-0200 genegolden@gettysburgsigns.com
"Art is knowing when to stop." Posts: 1578 | From: Gettysburg, PA | Registered: Jun 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Font manufacturers have created their own versions of another foundry's design since the invention of type. That practice has long been accepted as a part of the business. Typically the foundry would simply apply their name to it. Monotype Garamond, Stempel Garamond, Simoncini Garamond etc.
As the use of type evolved from metal and wood into phototypesetting and then to digital, more and more new designs accompanied them along with other creations that were inspired by or modelled after the originals. Helios spawned Helvetica, Triumvirate, Swiss and Ariel. Each was created from scratch at considerable expense.
When digital type took over, CorelDRAW supplied a library of fonts with their application which had been created as has been described thus far and the name of the original design was also duly noted as an aid to users. Bitstream continued and expanded this practice in creating its font library.
Then came a program for creating type that was priced affordably named Fontographer. It was supposed to be for the small independent type designer. One of its capabilities is to open an existing font for editing and to allow it to be regenerated which is similar to saving a file. Abuses began to occur and in a landmark ruling in 1988, the US Patent and Trademark court ruled that a type design could not be copyrighted because the Latin alphabet was in the public domain. Only the font name could be protected under trademark laws.
Anyone with a copy of Fontographer could now legally open an existing font, rename it, change the copyright information and regenerate it. In 1992, Swfte Software did this with 120 fonts from the Bitstream library and created a product called Typecase. Typecase sold 7 million copies (retail price was $59) and was named PC Magazine's Product of the Year.
Next an outfit named Southern Software did the same thing to Adobe and others and began licensing the clones to other developers. Out of this came KeyFonts Pro from The Learning Company which was 3000 fonts for $29. Lots of program developers needing to supply fonts with their applications jumped on the bandwagon as well including such familiar names as Anagraph, ClickArt, PrintShop.
Finally in 1998, Adobe sued The Learning Company and won on the argument that any vector or "glyph" is actually a mathematical formula and is, therefore, entitled to copyright protection. You still cannot copyright a design but you can protect the actual digitizing.
That stopped the CD publishers but lots more redistribution happened next on the emerging internet. Ironically, someone cracked a copy of Fontographer and now individuals could even get and use it without paying.
What amounted to a few thousand type designs in 1988 has grown to somewhere in the neighborhood of 100,000 font names with very few of them being new designs. And it has taken another eight years for the type manufacturers to get the online sites under control as to redistributing illegal clones of their designs.
In the aftermath, there were casualties. URW, Bitstream, Berthold and other major foundries went into bankruptcy. Monotype was acquired by Agfa. Linotype let nearly 1000 people go. Dozens of independent designers disappeared or moved onto other things.
And we are left with an unmanagable bunch of similar fonts using different names flooding the market and consuming our time on a daily basis.
-------------------- Fred Weiss Allied Computer Graphics, Inc. 4620 Lake Worth Road Lake Worth, FL 33463 561 649-6300 allcompu@allcompu.com Posts: 427 | From: Lake Worth, Florida | Registered: Feb 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
"Consuming our time on a daily basis" Ain't that the truth. Before all this computor mubo jumbo, I used to use my Letreset catalog for finding fonts.
-------------------- Signs by Alicia Jennings (Mudflap Girl) Tacoma, WA Since 1987 Have Lipstick, will travel. Posts: 3813 | From: Tacoma, WA. U.S.A. | Registered: Dec 1999
| IP: Logged |
![[I Don t Know]](graemlins/dunno.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic