Font licencing

LBGLBG Member Posts: 277
edited November -1 in Working with GS (Mac)
Hi,

I am trying to find out what licences I need for fonts I use in my game. I have contacted a company that said an OEM licence is required for the font I use but so far I have only found sites with desktop and web licences. I was wondering what you guys did when it came to fonts in your games; where you found them, if they were royalty free, if you needed licences how you got them, etc.

Any help would be much appreciated. The last thing I want to do is get this wrong as I have heard fines can be up to £20,000 per character! Eeeek!!

Cheers

LBG

Comments

  • DizkoDizko Member Posts: 498
    From what I understand, is that any font shipped with your computer, meaning any font that's already on your Mac when you get it, qualifies as an OEM licence. Which gives you the ability to distribute that font in any type of media you create, including games. What I think it doesn't let you do is redistribute that font directly, meaning providing the font file to someone else.

    If you purchase a font like Helvetica or something like that, then you have similar usage rights. You'll be able to use it in any media you create, distribute or sell, you just can't redistribute or resell the actual font file.

    Long story short, fonts shipped with your computer or fonts that you buy can be used in your games/images/etc. You cannot share those fonts with anyone else, not even a hired designer, they would have to have licences of their own.
  • LBGLBG Member Posts: 277
    That sounds ok in theory but I have been in contact with a guy at My Fonts that says the fonts that are available through them would not be licenced for use in games. They are specifically web and desktop fonts. I have just mailed to ask him about the ones supplied on my machine.
  • LBGLBG Member Posts: 277
    He wouldn't comment on system fonts and told me instead to contact the OEM.
  • LBGLBG Member Posts: 277
    Does anyone else have any experience with this. I'm guessing most people on here must as they are making games.
  • DizkoDizko Member Posts: 498
    I think if your fonts are rastered in a graphic, you're fine. You just aren't allowed to include the font in a shipped product. For example, importing your custom font into GS would violate the licence, which is probably why they don't allow it.

    If your licence allows you to use the font to create graphics, then you should be ok. The OEM fonts are fine, you have full licences for those.
  • jpmurphjpmurph Member Posts: 62
    skirt these types of problems and use fonts with creative commons license check out www.dafont.com
  • SlickZeroSlickZero Houston, TexasMember, Sous Chef Posts: 2,870
    If it's a font you purchased, then it's yours to do with as you wish, with the exception of what Diz said. You can't bundle the font and sell it to other people. If it's rasterized and no longer a font but an image, you should be okay.

    I use Adobe Font Folio, and I can do with them as I please with that one exception, and that would be bundling the font and selling it as my own.

    Where did you get the font?
  • LBGLBG Member Posts: 277
    Thanks for the replies. Yeah I had heard that once rasterized they are bitmap images in the eyes of the law and they can't legitimately be the subject of copywright although distributors of fonts say otherwise.

    Whether that is true I don't know. I'll do a bit more digging and see what I can find.
  • old_kipperold_kipper Member Posts: 1,420
    Once it is rasterized you should be fine if you own the font for use on your mac/pc (or get someone who does own the font to make the graphics for you). Otherwise every newspaper vendor across the world in every corner shop would have to have a license for the fonts in every newspaper and magazine they sell (and they would have to hold a license for every other bit of text they sell, even if it was on a bubble gum wrapper). Imbedded display fonts like those that are saved into a pdf file or in some games engines are different and you must check. GS does not allow for this so you are safe.
  • JohnPapiomitisJohnPapiomitis Member Posts: 6,256
    jpmurph said:
    skirt these types of problems and use fonts with creative commons license check out www.dafont.com

    +1 for dafont
  • MERMMERM Member Posts: 194
    http://flamingtext.com/

    that's what im using for my fonts.

    website says u can use it for logos, websites, or wherever you want, so i think im safe with this... i hope :)
  • LBGLBG Member Posts: 277
    I got the font at fontspace. I am trying to contact the artist to get a commercial license. I'll only be using that font for headings. The rest of the time I want to use something simple such as Arial or Times New Roman.
  • expired_012expired_012 Member Posts: 1,802
    Im confused...does this mean we can't use fonts in our games given to us from adobe illustrator and other art programs?
  • gamedivisiongamedivision Member Posts: 807
    pop over to
    http://www.blambot.com/fonts.shtml

    they give you all the font license options when you pay for your fonts,about $20 a font
  • expired_012expired_012 Member Posts: 1,802
    Just emailed the guy who who created the font im using. He said that the normal license is donationware, and if I want to include the font in my app I will have to purchase the embeddable version of it which includes the license to use it for commercial purposes, which will cost $50
  • gamedivisiongamedivision Member Posts: 807
    this will make you laugh i've just spoken to a guy from blambot and he said if you want to embed my fonts onto your game it will cost you $300, that is a joke, id rather buy software to create fonts and copy the style, make them myself
  • ckck Member Posts: 224
    You can't embed fonts in GS. You can only create a bitmap using them. The blambot guy knows less about this than GS people.
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