[free-sklyarov] adobe DMCA letters

[Christopher R. Maden]

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At 16:08 22-12-2001, Will Janoschka wrote:
>  It's Adobe software, however, Adobe considers its fonts to be 
> 'software', thus
>  protected by copyright.  Fonts are not subject to copyright in the US.
>  (Copyrightable 'prolly isn't a word)  Just another nasty side of Adobe.

This isn't quite accurate.  *Typefaces* - the shapes of letters - are not 
copyrightable.  A digital font is a piece of software that draws those 
shapes, and *is* copyrightable (see Adobe v. SSI).  You can print out a 
font, scan it back in, trace it, and make a font, and be in the clear.

See the comp.fonts FAQ (<URL: http://nwalsh.com/comp.fonts/FAQ/cf_13.htm >) 
for more info.

I'm not saying this is the *right* status for fonts and typefaces, but it 
is the current legal status.  (I think that typefaces should have the same 
legal status as other works of art - whatever that status is - but the 
Supreme Court has held that since the alphabet is in the public domain, a 
typeface can't be protected.  Obviously, there's no creativity whatsoever 
represented by a Palatino, Poetica, or American Uncial take on the Platonic 
concept of "A".)

~crism
- -- 
Libertarian candidate, California State Assembly, District 13
Dmitry's going home! <URL: http://www.freesklyarov.org/ >
Freelance text nerd: <URL: http://crism.maden.org/ >
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