[Openfontlibrary] Fonts are software, so use a software license.

[Christopher Fynn]

Fontfreedom at aol.com wrote:

>> I also wonder whether free software licenses  (designed for software) are 
>> appropriate for fonts where a font is first  published in a country where 
>> the design is  protected?

> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

> If you hope to have international  recognition of your copyright, the font 
> MUST be considered software, so a  license referring to the font as software is 
> actually very  important.

Why?

Most developed countries including the US offer copyright protection to 
foreign works under under the Berne Convention since 1989 and the 
Universal Copyright Convention (UCC) since 1955.

The works of an author who is a national or resident of a country that 
is a member of these treaties, works first published in a member country 
or published within 30 days of first publication in a Berne Union 
country may claim protection under the treaties.

So if something is copyright in a country where it was first published 
the US should recognize that too if that country is also a member of the 
Berne Convention.

> See: 
> _http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/antipiracy/fonts.html_ 
> (http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/antipiracy/fonts.html)    
> 

It may be that in America fonts can only be protected as software but in 
the UK they are also protected as "artistic works.  This may not be the 
case in the US where the argument has been that fonts should be 
considered "utilitarian" not "artistic".

I don't know about the US but if you publish a font in the UK, or 
another European country, I think you may want something more than a 
license designed for software. This should also apply to licenses for 
free/open source fonts.

In order to qualify for protection as an "artistic work" in the UK, 
there is a minimum level of originality required, and some degree of 
skill and labour must be expended by the author.

If eligible, might not one want to first publish a font outside the US 
in a country where the font is protected as an artistic work and as 
software?

- Chris