Need info on Font Licensing and Legalities

[Jeremy...@adobeforums.com]

I work in an in-house design agency; our outside agencies continue to send us "completed" files with fonts that they "purchased". I believe that my company needs to license these fonts from their initial source in order to use and create new files with these designs' fonts---is this true?

If I purchase the Open Type Font Folio, can I restrict our outside agencies to use only the fonts therein? Has anyone had this happen?

This seems to be a common issue, though I can't find anyone discussing it.

[Neil_...@adobeforums.com]

Jeremy,

Each foundry has its own licensing rules. And there are different rules even within one foundry and for "the same" fonts!

Fonts, like other commercial software, is generally licensed for use; the intellectural property that is the software itself is not "sold". First stop would be to check the end-user license agreement (EULA).

Adobe allows for you to install fonts on so many machines (1, 5, 10, etc.) connected to the same printer and to embed most fonts in PDFs and distribute such PDFs as you wish. But it does not allow for even the temporary "lending" of fonts to a client or designer or to a service provider or printer to create art or to run out color proofs or film or digital printing or plating -- unless, that person or service provider or printer also has a license for the very same fonts. The specific terms are included with each font software license.

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Instead of providing native InDesign, QuarkXPress, Photoshop or Illustrator files, your outside agencies can use almost any fonts they want, as long as they are embedded in PDF-format final art. And you do not need to have your own license for these fonts. But here too, check the EULA -- some foundries do not allow for font embedding in PDFs, although Adobe generally does.

But, sure, if you have Font Folio, you can certainly tell your outside sources to only use fonts that appear on that folio (and remember that PostScript and OpenType versions of your fonts are considered different fonts from a liecnesing standpoint.

I hope this helps.

Neil

[Thomas_...@adobeforums.com]

Neil is correct.

Generally: Most foundries' licenses do not allow such "lending" of fonts with print jobs, although there are certainly a few exceptions. Adobe's license allows it providing the third party already has a license for the same font. That makes it just a means of ensuring that the same version of the font is used.

Most, but certainly not all, foundries allow embedding fonts in PDF files for sending to a service/output provider. Again, you need to check the specific license.

Regards,

T

[Neil_...@adobeforums.com]

Thanks, Thomas.

BTW, to clarify one point about Photoshop and Illustrator files that use fonts -- if the fonts are rasterized in the former, or converted to outlines in the latter, the restrictions on most fonts go away.

Neil

[Don_Mc...@adobeforums.com]

If I purchase the Open Type Font Folio, can I restrict our outside agencies
to use only the fonts therein? Has anyone had this happen?

Yes you can. If you are paying them, you can tell them what fonts to use. I know Macmillan publishers in the US had a deal with Bitstream at one point and I had to continually buy BT fonts that duplicated my Adobe fonts, to my great annoyance.

[Jeremy...@adobeforums.com]

Thanks all! I truly appreciate your feedback.

I know my company needs to have licenses for the fonts the agencies use (if they provide them to my company), but I was unaware of the PDF embedding allowance on some fonts. I will check this in the future.

Unfortunately, I don't think half the outside agencies my company works with are knowledgeable in the legalities of font software licensing---hence landing in the issues now. As we proceed we will lock them into the Adobe Open Type Folio---since we have to create additional collateral based on their designs, this will allow my company to use the same fonts without issue.

[Neil_...@adobeforums.com]

I don't think half the outside agencies my company works with are knowledgeable
in the legalities of font software licensing

If fonts were thought of as the licensed software it is (like Photoshop), this would be less of a problem.

However, locking your outside agencies into using the 2200+ fonts packaged in FF would be far from the worst constraint you could put on them. Hey, you could tell them that all jobs had to be created using just two very specific fonts (if you had a strict CID program in place, that could very well be the case!).
Neil

[Dov Isaacs]

Neil,

Be very careful about this generalization; it is simply not true!

There are a number of font foundries that specifically prohibit "outlining of text" or rasterization of text as a means of avoiding font embedding and/or "lending" restrictions!

- Dov

[Neil_...@adobeforums.com]

Thanks, Dov.

Where I said "the restrictions on most fonts go away", I probably should have said "many". But that simply underscores the confusion that abounds surrounding fair, appropriate and legal use of fonts.

It would also mean that these specific fonts cannot be used for logotype creation, which could be a nightmare for a designer if that issue comes back to haunt him after the creation of an important CID program. The problem is that there is simply no simple or reliable way for a designer to know or even to expect that this would be the case.

And this is a real problem. The typical designer does not see (or is even aware of) the myriad combinations and permutations of EULA permissions and restrictions that are hiding in his font library. But without some across-the-board agreement among legitimate foundries, the designer is walking through a mine field.

Neil