[OpenFontLibrary] Improving Metadata: Could OFLB modify fonts on the server?

[Victor Gaultney]

Dave and others -

Congrats on the new site - it looks terrific. Very nicely done!

> I wonder about the OFL RFN though - this option is typically used, and
> it requires any modifications to be renamed, so I guess this feature
> would not be available for RFN fonts....

There's a very good reason for that. Font metadata is not just informational - it affects the behavior of the font. By changing some seemingly informational metadata you can easily break the font or change how it works. If you let people modify other people's fonts on the site then there is no guarantee that the font that is downloaded works the way the designer intended.

If you want other people to mess with your fonts - maybe improve them but maybe break them and make you look bad - then don't declare any RFNs. Simple as that. Otherwise, an RFN is an elegant and simple way to ensure that what people download is what you designed.

> Google Web Fonts requires contributors to waive the RFN to allow them
> to make modifications, so perhaps the OFLB form could also get
> uploaders to confirm this.

AFAIK, Google is essentially making a separate agreement with each designer that allows Google to modify those specific fonts. That's fine, and we at SIL have done just that (though through a different mechanism). 

I don't think, however, that the OFLB can allow this for fonts uploaded to OFLB. Google is a legal entity which SIL is allowing to modify the fonts yet retain RFNs. In the case of the OFLB, who is the legal entity? And if you're allowing site visitors to modify the fonts, then any agreement to use RFNs for modified fonts would need to be between the copyright holder and the person doing the modification, not the OFLB.

The solution is simple:

- If a designer wishes others to be able to modify the fonts yet retain the name, they should not declare any RFNs.

- If they want to make sure their font remains unmodified with the current name, they should declare any RFNs.

I strongly recommend against any system that asks/requires contributors to waive certain legal rights. That's the sort of territory that will scare off many designers, and makes the free font movement look more and more like Johnny Depp. It's also not necessary. The OFL already provides a mechanism that enables designers to allow modifications under the conditions that they specify. It's all there.

Cheers,

Victor


____________
Victor Gaultney  |  vtype at gaultney.org




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