Are Fonts Copyrighted?

[Alex]

Are the fonts in MS Word copyrighted or otherwise protected?

 

[Jay Freedman]

Are the fonts in MS Word copyrighted or otherwise protected?

Yes, they are. See
http://www.microsoft.com/about/legal/permissions/default.mspx#EAF for more
information.

The copyrights on fonts (in general, not just Microsoft's) limit your
ability to distribute the font files. They don't limit your ability to use
the fonts to create any document with a licensed copy of Office, regardless
of whether you sell that document. [But be careful about embedding fonts in
documents; some fonts have licenses that allow that, while others don't
allow it.]

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Alex]

Suppose the font were to be used in a product brand image? Thanks, Alex

Are the fonts in MS Word copyrighted or otherwise protected?

Yes, they are. See
http://www.microsoft.com/about/legal/permissions/default.mspx#EAF for more
information.

The copyrights on fonts (in general, not just Microsoft's) limit your
ability to distribute the font files. They don't limit your ability to use
the fonts to create any document with a licensed copy of Office, regardless
of whether you sell that document. [But be careful about embedding fonts in
documents; some fonts have licenses that allow that, while others don't
allow it.]

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Peter T. Daniels]

The actual designs of a typeface are not copyrightable in the US,
though they are in most of the rest of the world. That's why you can
find all those "pirated" CDs of 10,000 fonts at the discount store for
$9.99. Those sets, though, are usually lousy quality and often don't
have such basic extras as curly-quotes.

Suppose the font were to be used in a product brand image?  Thanks, Alex

YOU _MUST_ CONSULT AN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ATTORNEY.

"Product brand images" are trademarks, which is a field quite
different from copyright.

Yes, they are. See
http://www.microsoft.com/about/legal/permissions/default.mspx#EAFfor more
information.

The copyrights on fonts (in general, not just Microsoft's) limit your
ability to distribute the font files. They don't limit your ability to use
the fonts to create any document with a licensed copy of Office, regardless
of whether you sell that document. [But be careful about embedding fonts in
documents; some fonts have licenses that allow that, while others don't
allow it.]

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP        FAQ:http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -