Typefaces do not have copyright (though they can have design rights or trademark encumberment). Font files, the computer programs that implement typefaces, are protected by copyright and must be licensed.

▲

Karliss 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

Do not have copyright in US. If you are a serious business operating internationally things are more complicated.

	▲	behnamoh 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		This is why we can't have nice things...

▲

NoMoreNicksLeft 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

What if I write a tool that pulls all the vectors out of a font file, puts them in a new font file with a new font id/name, munges it up so they don't have the same hash?

Shapes aren't software, and whatever fool judicial ruling set that precedent is ripe for some loopholing.

▲

wizzwizz4 3 days ago | parent [-]

Then your font will look awful, because there's a lot more to fonts than just the glyphs. (See the lettering on https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pope_Francis_Tomb.jp..., in the lower third of the image.) You cannot adapt the font's kerning or hinting software in this way, since that would be creating a derivative work: you'd have to take measurements from its output and reconstruct it that way, which is rather difficult to do without understanding.

The ruling is not foolish: it's actually one of the more sensible aspects of copyright law imo.

	▲	NoMoreNicksLeft 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		The shape of letters, including their spacing, isn't protectable under US law. Kerning and hinting aren't derivative, because typefaces aren't creative works that anything could be derived from. >The ruling is not foolish: it's actually one of the more sensible aspects of copyright law imo. The bar is so low, I fear you might be right on technicality.