Fonts and copyright
March 10, 2018 6:35 AM Subscribe
I want to make a font but would prefer to modify an existing one. Help me understand what license I need the original font to have and where to find an appropriate font.
I want to modify something like Bebas Neue, Impact or other heavily grotesque fonts. So I understand I am looking for something under "the unlicense" or the MIT-licence perhaps? I want to be able to modify, distribute freely, give it it's own name etc. I am happy to have an info file or whatever and would of course credit the source on the page from which I distribute it.
How should I go about this, are there other good licenses I could try (cc-0 perhaps?) and where can I find them. Are google fonts chill to remix? Can you suggest a good starter-font?
I want to modify something like Bebas Neue, Impact or other heavily grotesque fonts. So I understand I am looking for something under "the unlicense" or the MIT-licence perhaps? I want to be able to modify, distribute freely, give it it's own name etc. I am happy to have an info file or whatever and would of course credit the source on the page from which I distribute it.
How should I go about this, are there other good licenses I could try (cc-0 perhaps?) and where can I find them. Are google fonts chill to remix? Can you suggest a good starter-font?
Font outlines are not copyrightable in the US, and Wikipedia suggests that the UK is the only place where it can be an issue.
posted by rhizome at 11:04 AM on March 10, 2018
posted by rhizome at 11:04 AM on March 10, 2018
Best answer: Good news is that Bebas Neue is licensed under the Open Font License. This allows you to modify the font, as long as you:
posted by scruss at 12:04 PM on March 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
- Include the original creator's credit in your documentation (which is often embedded in the font binary itself)
- If you distribute/use publicly your modified font, you must allow others to have the font under the OFL (as OFL prevents you from adding restrictions to something that you received and used under the OFL)
- Most importantly of all, change the name of the font. This might seem a little unusual, but fonts are uniquely identified by their name (technically, their ‘Reserved Font Name’). Using a different name ensures that ‘Iteki Bebas Neue Bold’ doesn't override copies of Bebas Neue Bold that other people are using.
posted by scruss at 12:04 PM on March 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Alphabets are not protected property in the United States, but glyph points and font software are copyrightable.
Practically speaking, you should be looking at SIL OFL (Open Font License) fonts and not anything that was licensed under a standard or commercial EULA (end user licensing agreement). 99.9% of non-OFL EULAs are going to prohibit the kind of modifications you'd like to make.
(Also, for anyone who may come across this post in the future and is thinking about using a pirated font as your source material, please don't. It's not great for one's karma or bank account, in the event you're sued.)
Happily, Bebas Neue was released under the OFL.
FWIW, if the font you're producing is inspired by or adapted from a living designer's work, especially a contemporary living designer, it's considered tacky at best to release your file(s) without first obtaining the permission of the source material's designer. Doing so will also set you up for issues if you ever want partner with a large-scale distributor like MyFonts, etc. That said, type designers are generally a friendly lot, especially those creating work under the OFL. If you haven't already, consider reaching out to Ryoichi @ Dharma Type (the designer of Bebas Neue) and start a dialogue.
As scruss mentioned, there are a few technical changes you'll have to make within any OFL font you adapt. Packaging the font(s) with a read me that includes credit is nice, but you should also be including that information within the font's metadata. (Make sure to adjust all of the metadata if you're not starting from scratch, so you don't unintentionally create software conflicts for your users.) If you're using Glyphs or Fontlab, you can add this information directly within the app prior to generating your final font files.
One last note: give careful consideration to your font name. There are technical reasons why you'll need to change the name of any adaptation (menu conflicts, character length limitations, etc.) but there's also a big practical/financial reason too: fonts can be trademarked. Trademark holders are required to defend their marks in the marketplace in order to maintain their holding, and some take this requirement to heart more than others. Identical font names are an obvious conflict, but so are names that incorporate a portion of another font's name (Iteki Bebas) or even simply names that sound like one another (Bebaz, Debas, etc.).
Good luck, and have fun! Don't be afraid to reach out to other type designers or forums with questions or if you get stuck. We all started out as newbies too.
posted by muirne81 at 2:17 PM on March 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
Practically speaking, you should be looking at SIL OFL (Open Font License) fonts and not anything that was licensed under a standard or commercial EULA (end user licensing agreement). 99.9% of non-OFL EULAs are going to prohibit the kind of modifications you'd like to make.
(Also, for anyone who may come across this post in the future and is thinking about using a pirated font as your source material, please don't. It's not great for one's karma or bank account, in the event you're sued.)
Happily, Bebas Neue was released under the OFL.
FWIW, if the font you're producing is inspired by or adapted from a living designer's work, especially a contemporary living designer, it's considered tacky at best to release your file(s) without first obtaining the permission of the source material's designer. Doing so will also set you up for issues if you ever want partner with a large-scale distributor like MyFonts, etc. That said, type designers are generally a friendly lot, especially those creating work under the OFL. If you haven't already, consider reaching out to Ryoichi @ Dharma Type (the designer of Bebas Neue) and start a dialogue.
As scruss mentioned, there are a few technical changes you'll have to make within any OFL font you adapt. Packaging the font(s) with a read me that includes credit is nice, but you should also be including that information within the font's metadata. (Make sure to adjust all of the metadata if you're not starting from scratch, so you don't unintentionally create software conflicts for your users.) If you're using Glyphs or Fontlab, you can add this information directly within the app prior to generating your final font files.
One last note: give careful consideration to your font name. There are technical reasons why you'll need to change the name of any adaptation (menu conflicts, character length limitations, etc.) but there's also a big practical/financial reason too: fonts can be trademarked. Trademark holders are required to defend their marks in the marketplace in order to maintain their holding, and some take this requirement to heart more than others. Identical font names are an obvious conflict, but so are names that incorporate a portion of another font's name (Iteki Bebas) or even simply names that sound like one another (Bebaz, Debas, etc.).
Good luck, and have fun! Don't be afraid to reach out to other type designers or forums with questions or if you get stuck. We all started out as newbies too.
posted by muirne81 at 2:17 PM on March 10, 2018 [3 favorites]
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Among them, The League of Movable Type has open source fonts you can modify and redistribute.
posted by signal at 7:10 AM on March 10, 2018 [1 favorite]