Free fonts question

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Woody44
Posts: 483
Joined: Wed May 22, 2019 11:56 pm

Free fonts question

Post by Woody44 »

I just downloaded the free font for September: Quartz. Since I try to respect licensing, I also read and copied the license and installation instructions. Under 'License," it says the following:
License

These fonts are neither public domain nor shareware. They may not be transferred to third parties. But we’re always pleased when people tell friends and acquaintances about www.freefont.de – and of course you’re welcome to link to us.
That's not an adequate statement of a license. It does NOT tell me if I can
  • Embed the font in PDFs
  • Use the font in an e-book
  • Use the font to create a web site
  • Use the font for any other commercial purpose(s)
martin-k
SoftMaker Team
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Re: Free fonts question

Post by martin-k »

PDF yes, e-book no, webfont no, printing yes, including commercial.
Martin Kotulla
SoftMaker Software GmbH
Woody44
Posts: 483
Joined: Wed May 22, 2019 11:56 pm

Re: Free fonts question

Post by Woody44 »

Thank you.

Can you submit a request that this information be set forth in the licensing information? It is rather important to know, since by not allowing use of the fonts for e-books or web sites you eliminate probably 75 percent of what most people looking for free fonts want to use them for.
Woody44
Posts: 483
Joined: Wed May 22, 2019 11:56 pm

Re: Free fonts question

Post by Woody44 »

Update: I just downloaded the current free font, "Oklahoma." I also downloaded the "license," which does not appear to have changed and which in my opinion is not in any way a license, or even a terms of service document. The following is the totality of the "license":
License
These fonts are neither public domain nor shareware. They may not be transferred to third parties. But we’re always pleased when people tell friends and acquaintances about www.freefont.de – and of course you’re welcome to link to us.
Respectfully, that tells me next to nothing, except that I can't transfer it to a third party. And that, I respectfully submit, is a dumb requirement. I can't send a copy to a friend, but that same friend can download a copy of the exact same file from your web site -- after which we both have a FREE copy of the same file. So why can't I transfer it to him (or her)?

But the larger issue is that the license language still doesn't stipulate for what purposes the font may and may not be used. In reality, I'm not sure why I bother to download the free fonts from SoftMaker, because according to the post above I am not allowed to use them for either e-books or web fonts. Those are the two things most people today want fonts for. If they can't be [legally] used for those purposes -- what's the point of even offering them? And if an obscure self-publishing author (like me) uses one of your free fonts in an e-book -- how would you ever know? I won't do it, because I took the trouble to ask. And I have 7,500 fonts available to me from Megafont NOW! But most people won't investigate any deeper than "Free font! COOL!" And they'll use it if they like it.

I really think you need to reexamine the licensing scheme and logic for these free fonts.
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