My game is currently using the Arial font for text output. Now I''ll be realeasing this game within a few months and I''m wondering wether or not it is legal to use a font not made by me. Should I make my own font or can I continue to use the Arial font for text output. Thank you for your time.

If the user already owns the font (i.e. it's one of the standard Windows fonts and is already installed), then AFAIK it's ok.

If however you're intending on installing someone elses font with your game, then you'll need to obtain a license from whoever owns the font.

This is even the case if you're intending on converting the font to a bitmap or a different file format.

The licenses vary depending on who owns the font, but usually there are one off single product licenses and one off any product licenses.


That's to be watertight in a legal sense - many many people (including companies) overlook font ownership. I'm not aware of any cases of game developers being sued over using other peoples fonts, but becoming the first wouldn't be nice

[edited by - s1ca on July 9, 2003 8:40:34 PM]

Most commercial game developers do their own fonts for each project but this isn''t really for legal reasons, just because they want one that suits the style of game they are doing and which is the correct size.

I too have never heard of anyone being sued for using fonts. As usual though you should check with a lawyer.

Dan Marchant
Obscure Productions
Game Development & Design consultant

Thanks. I''ll probably be making my own font anyway so that it fits better with my game like you said.

Thanks again.

I make use of the Arial font on my webpage. I do not distribute my Arial font via the webpage (or any other manner).

Theres no way I can be sued for using a font that someone already has, or every other webpage would be getting sued.

[edited by - GroZZleR on July 12, 2003 1:23:50 AM]

quote: Original post by GroZZleR
I make use of the Arial font on my webpage. I do not distribute my Arial font via the webpage (or any other manner).

Theres no way I can be sued for using a font that someone already has, or every other webpage would be getting sued.

[edited by - GroZZleR on July 12, 2003 1:23:50 AM]

Yes. Which is exactly what''s been said above...

However,

1) if the user doesn''t have Arial on their machine, when vieing your web page, their browser will use a *similar* font. For example a Mac user viewing your web page will probably get the page in "Helvetica" instead because "Arial" is a Microsoft font (albeit a copy of the more traditional Helvetica). AFAIK that behaviour is an expected part of the W3C standards for browsers.

2) it still stands that if you put the .TTF file for Arial on your web page or converted the whole font to a bitmap, you''d be distributing it, something you didn''t have the license to do.

3) my take on whether fonts and software should be licensed comes from my work over the years on products for companies such as Lego and Hasbro who take this kind of stuff very seriously and want ALL licenses for checked. [Usually with a nasty indemnity clause so that you get all the flak if someone sues them over using their font]!

An interesting link:
http://www.fontware.com/section/products/fonts/fontlicense.asp

If you''re running Windows, you have Arial. It''s part of all Windows installs.

Anyway, you can use the Indirect version of create font, where you specify properties (serif/not, etc) and Windows grabs one font out of the installed ones.

Regarding rendering fonts to bitmaps, there''s actually some contention about whether this is a violation of copyright (needs a license) or not. For example, if I own a font, and I use that font to make a headline on an image in Photoshop, that''s usually considered safe, expected and allowed as part of owning the font.

Check with your counsel :-) If you don''t have counsel, sign up for a pre-paid legal plan. They''re like $15/month and they allow you to ask a large number of questions on the phone.

quote: Original post by Anonymous Poster
If you''re running Windows, you have Arial. It''s part of all Windows installs.

Yup, as above

quote: Regarding rendering fonts to bitmaps, there''s actually some contention about whether this is a violation of copyright (needs a license) or not. For example, if I own a font, and I use that font to make a headline on an image in Photoshop, that''s usually considered safe, expected and allowed as part of owning the font.

I agree with that. For a headline for an image in Photoshop and then redistributing that, there isn''t any problem AFAIK. There''d be a lot of people getting sued if that were a problem

However, converting all or the majority of the characters in the font to a bitmap (used to allow the player to enter their name or for chat text for example), is IMO distribution thus risky.

quote: Check with your counsel :-) If you don''t have counsel, sign up for a pre-paid legal plan. They''re like $15/month and they allow you to ask a large number of questions on the phone.

Yep, agreed. IANAL, as always, if it matters, check with a professional.

BTW: It was under the advice of a legal professional that we licensed all the fonts we converted to bitmaps for games when I was working at Creative Asylum.