future of font licensing
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- ukit
Since it seems like the web is moving rapidly towards dynamically rendered custom fonts in the near future, how do you see licensing practices changing in regard to this? Do you think we will have to pay extra for using fonts in this way, or will the lack of enforceability mean foundries will eventually have to drop extra licensing fees for dynamic usage?
- TheBlueOne0
*blinks*
Is this an actual design industry question of some type?
- k0na_an0k0
the answer is.... 4?!?
- mikotondria30
Could you elaborate on the question somewhat - Im not sure I understand how you define 'dynamic fonts'...
As I understood it, the font is a series of data that encode the typeface, which the guts of my browser libraries read then dynamically render to the screen - how is there anything in the pipeline that does anything vastly different from this setup ?
- ukit0
You are right - however, many foundries define it differently and expect you to pay more if you are using their fonts to render text dynamically in a Flash movie or using Javascript-based font rendering the way I understand it.
- johndiggity0
i see you overlooked my link. the woff is the one format currently being supported by most major type foundries and will more than likely be included in the next revision on w3c standards.
more info here: http://people.mozilla.com/~jkew/…
- pango0
i kinda hope there is this illegal font crack down. easier to convince the client to buy the font.
- I can't imagine how they could enforce it, other than to but a unique serial # on each copy, which would be a huge task for any foundry less than enormous.ismith
- any foundry less than enormous I'd think. They'd need an RIAA-like mommy figure to handle the grunt...ismith
- Then again, it would probably help the state of web typography.ismith
- ukit0
That's interesting...I wonder how much a WOFF font will retail for?
- it's just the encoding procedure. standard licensing applies i believe.johndiggity
- neue75_bold0
good topic, for a change... I think it's a good move, long time coming, so far the 'open source' fonts I have seen have been less than desirable, but look forward to see what happens here...
- doesnotexist0
I would hope prices just go up- too hard to enforce and really, too much of a hassle to deal with already with all the other licensing issues. I hope the whole process gets easier if anything.
- cuke4260
here's the answer for type on web: http://typekit.com/
- jaylarson0
So, @fontface is the syntax while stuff like typekit is an online application that utilizes @fontface, right?
- neverblink0
The problem, as always, is getting all browser vendors to implement the same technology (in the same way)..
there are some interesting topics to be read on this subject on typophile:
http://typophile.com/node/59489
http://typophile.com/node/46264
http://typophile.com/node/58482
http://typophile.com/node/48971
http://typophile.com/node/60220
http://typophile.com/node/57934