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author | Karl Berry <karl@freefriends.org> | 2009-05-23 00:14:50 +0000 |
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committer | Karl Berry <karl@freefriends.org> | 2009-05-23 00:14:50 +0000 |
commit | ac7c62d7555a6cebca926dc51ebc39cb235982db (patch) | |
tree | 8411809d969764b8f25e7ad5082c08f3577aee00 /Master/texmf-dist/doc/fonts/fontname/Font-legalities.html | |
parent | af6a89d1cc9fae03dc3a8dc7b19e324266bf0596 (diff) |
use doc subdirs
git-svn-id: svn://tug.org/texlive/trunk@13408 c570f23f-e606-0410-a88d-b1316a301751
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diff --git a/Master/texmf-dist/doc/fonts/fontname/Font-legalities.html b/Master/texmf-dist/doc/fonts/fontname/Font-legalities.html new file mode 100644 index 00000000000..b47b85bb25e --- /dev/null +++ b/Master/texmf-dist/doc/fonts/fontname/Font-legalities.html @@ -0,0 +1,99 @@ +<html lang="en"> +<head> +<title>Filenames for TeX fonts</title> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html"> +<meta name="description" content="Filenames for TeX fonts"> +<meta name="generator" content="makeinfo 4.6"> +<!-- +This document is in the public domain and may be used freely.--> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css"> +<style type="text/css"><!-- + pre.display { font-family:inherit } + pre.format { font-family:inherit } + pre.smalldisplay { font-family:inherit; font-size:smaller } + pre.smallformat { font-family:inherit; font-size:smaller } + pre.smallexample { font-size:smaller } + pre.smalllisp { font-size:smaller } +--></style> +</head> +<body> +<div class="node"> +<p> +Node: <a name="Font%20legalities">Font legalities</a>, +Next: <a rel="next" accesskey="n" href="Index.html#Index">Index</a>, +Previous: <a rel="previous" accesskey="p" href="Encodings.html#Encodings">Encodings</a>, +Up: <a rel="up" accesskey="u" href="index.html#Top">Top</a> +<hr><br> +</div> + +<h2 class="appendix">Font legalities</h2> + +<p>This section owes a great deal to Charles Bigelow (co-designer with Kris +Holmes of the Lucida typeface family, among others), who has generously +answered our many queries about fonts and the law around the world with +remarkable patience and understanding. (But he is naturally not +responsible for any errors here, much less our opinions.) + + <p>Fonts have always been treated rather strangely under the law, as befits +their rather strange nature: letterforms are indivisibly both +<em>useful</em> and <em>artistic</em>. In most countries--in all countries +until recently--utility has taken precedence; i.e., it has been legal +to copy fonts without permission or fee. + + <p>In any case, to the best of my knowledge, the situation in those +countries which have adopted any sort of typeface protection is as +follows: + + <dl> + + <br><dt>United States + <dd>Typeface designs can be patented, but not copyrighted. Only a few +designs have been patented. (Lucida and Stone are the only ones I know +of. I don't know what the grounds were for patenting Stone, but Lucida +had some novel features in its design which make it reasonable to +patent, given the acceptance of the patent system in the first place.) + + <p>Particular programs which instantiate a font can be copyrighted just as +any other computer program can. This is arguably wrong, since font +programs are nothing but a description of the shapes, possibly with some +simple hints, and there's only one basic way to describe the shapes in +any given language. Thus, the creativity lies in making the shape +right, not in making the computer program right, so it would seem that +to be consistent, the copyright laws should protect the design, not the +program--the opposite of the current situation. + + <br><dt>Germany + <dd>Typeface designs have been copyrightable as original works of art since +1981. As a result, many (perhaps most) designs have been copyrighted +there. The law is not retroactive, but German courts have upheld the +intellectual property rights of designers of earlier fonts as well: In +one case the heirs of Paul Bauer (designer of Futura) won a suit against +the Bauer foundry for arbitrarily discontinuing a portion of their +royalties. + + <br><dt>England + <dd>A copyright law passed in 1989 covers typeface designs first published +in England (or published in Britain within 30 days of its publication +elsewhere), and it <em>is</em> retroactive. It's unclear how far back the +law extends, but Times Roman, designed in the late 1920's and 1930's by +Stanley Morison and cut by Victor Lardent for Monotype is probably +covered. This does not mean GNU (for example) cannot have a Times +Roman; it just means we cannot start with an English version, as the law +does not forbid importing foreign versions of English typefaces. + + <br><dt>France + <dd>The Romain du Roi typeface designed by Philippe Grandjean in 1702 for +the French royal family is protected, and perhaps other such "royal" +designs. There is no protection for designs in general. + + </dl> + + <p>In 1973 the international Vienna treaty on typeface design protection +was proposed. France ratified it in 1974 or 1975, and Germany in 1981. +The English law might constitute ratification, but this has not been +settled. In any case, since at least four countries have to ratify it +before it takes effect (and even then it takes effect only in those +countries which ratify it), it is still of no consequence for now. + + </body></html> + |