Re: Re: Using Fonts in Banner Project

I missed the original, but...

> The project would use a distinctive font that is presumably registered
> in the copyright office.

Probably not, at least not in such a way to protect the typeface design.

Copyright Office regulation 37 CFR 202.1(e):

   202.1 Material not subject to copyright.

    The following are examples of works not subject to copyright and    applications for registration of such works cannot be entertained:     . . .
    (e) Typeface as typeface.

This is a confusing phrase, "typeface as typeface."

Let me level-set on terminology first. "Typeface" usually means the actual form of the letters themselves; a set of letters, alphabets, numerals, figurative signs, punctuation marks, and the like, intended to provide the means for composing text by any graphic technique such as printing.

"Font," in this context, means the thing that prints the letters. (In another context, "font" also refers to a subset of "typeface," all the characters of which have the same weight (e.g., 10-point, etc) and other characteristics (bold, italic, etc.)

In the olden days, a font was pieces of metal. Nowadays, a font, particularly in a computer context, is a file in the computer that embodies the typeface.

The Copyright office position, stemming originally from the case of Eltra Corp. v. Ringer, 579 F.2d 294 (4th Cir. 1978), and now part of regulation 202.1, is that typeface is not protectable by copyright (although some typefaces are protected by design patent).

Furthermore, a font (that is, the computer file) is only protectable if it amounts to an original work of authorship, beyond the mere typeface (which is deemed unprotected). So a bitmap font, for example, is not protectable: it's just a mapping of an unprotected typeface onto a grid.

However, some fonts are more than bitmaps; they're small computer programs whose function is to actually draw the lines and curves of the letters. Like other computer programs, they're protected by copyright, to the extent that they're original.

So the upshot in the US is this: typeface is not protected, at least according to the Copyright Office. That means that the use of anything printed with a particular typeface is not inhibited by the typeface itself (unless it is also covered by a design patent, of course). Copying most current-technology *fonts*, would, however, infringe copyright in the font.

Some caveats: a font may be licensed (as part of the OS or other software licensed to an end-user), and it is possible that the terms of such a license may restrict the use of the typeface. The enforceability of such a provision is a dubious matter, in my opinion, but it might be attempted. Also, although rare, a typeface could possibly be protected by design patent.

By the way, all of the above refers to US law. Some jurisdictions, e.g., the UK, do protect typeface by copyright; as they should, in my opinion. Received on Fri Aug 19 2005 - 23:35:31 GMT