From: Will Wagers (wagers@computek.net)
Date: Mon Jan 29 1996 - 01:00:42 EST
Paul J. Bodin writes:
>I don't know where you got your information, but electronic fonts are
>definitely copyrightable and many of them are copyrighted.
Apparently, it is not as clear cut as you imagine. Apparently, type faces
are not protected by copyright law. But, there are tricks authors can use
to bring them under the law. (Have you noticed than many manufacturers
distribute the fonts free, but charge for the software to use them?) Or, so
I read anyway. I wish I had kept the FAQ I read, so I could pass it on, but
it fell to the disk space axe. Anyone who creates fonts for a living would,
naturally, like us to think it is a cut and dried matter (and we may hear
from them to that effect). In other countries, other laws apply. In the
absence of detailed knowledge, your rule of thumb is the safest. (It might
be like the people who say "legally" we are not bound to pay income taxes,
many of whom are in jail or ruined.) Who wants to hire a lawyer over a font
even if they are right?
Software can be, as you point out, protected by copyright in the U.S. - a very
weak and difficult to assert case (Apple vs. Microsoft), most often succeeding
only in cases of outright piracy.
In both these instances and in trademark law, the manufacturer is often so
ignorant of the law as to obviate the protection they could have had. (Notice
how some manufacturers put a tiny "TM" next to their trade name *on* the
product.)
>Distribution of copyrighted materials without permission is a criminal offense.
No, unauthorized and illegal copying of copyrighted material is an offense. I
can buy ten copies of the new LSJ and give them to you gentlemen without
fear. Also, the material must be covered by copyright case law, not just have
"Copyright" written on it. You can't copyright a pair of pliers.
>If your concern is using Perseus on the web, I seem to remember a
>posting in the not-to-distant past that gave instructions for obtaining
>and installing the needed fonts. Perhaps if you check the archive that
>James Tauber maintains you will run across the instructions.
It is and thanks for the info. I will look it up. Thanks also to Mr. Krentz.
Will
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