Copyright and Fonts - using on web and printed media

[Clariman]

I am designing a look and feel for a website and some published media. As part of that I am identifying suitable fonts that I have access to through MS Words (part of Microsoft 365). Can I freely use any font that I have access to via Word or are there copyright considerations? Here is one by way of an example

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/typogr ... y-hand-itc

[mc2fool]

I am designing a look and feel for a website and some published media. As part of that I am identifying suitable fonts that I have access to through MS Words (part of Microsoft 365). Can I freely use any font that I have access to via Word or are there copyright considerations?

I don't know the answer to your question, but be aware that if you use CSS font parameters (or HTML <FONT>) to specify fonts for your website then the fonts have to be installed on the readers' systems, and if they're not the browser will fallback to generic fonts, so the website would end up looking different on other systems than it does on yours.

There are ways to ameliorate that so it'll at least still look ok if your first choice fonts aren't on the readers' systems, or you can not use them as text per se but put the text using them in images (which has it's own issues of course).

Apologies if you already knew all that.

[UncleEbenezer]

I am designing a look and feel for a website and some published media. As part of that I am identifying suitable fonts that I have access to through MS Words (part of Microsoft 365). Can I freely use any font that I have access to via Word or are there copyright considerations?

I don't know the answer to your question, but be aware that if you use CSS font parameters (or HTML <FONT>) to specify fonts for your website then the fonts have to be installed on the readers' systems, and if they're not the browser will fallback to generic fonts, so the website would end up looking different on other systems than it does on yours.

There are ways to ameliorate that so it'll at least still look ok if your first choice fonts aren't on the readers' systems, or you can not use them as text per se but put the text using them in images (which has it's own issues of course).

Apologies if you already knew all that.

All of which makes things worse. Often very much worse.

On the Web, the reader gets their own choice of font[1]. Something that's comfortable to read in the user's own circumstances, such as eyesight, screen size and quality, and lighting. Changes to that are at best harmless, but can be a serious hurdle to accessibility.

Legally speaking, any copyright issues won't be your problem if they're fonts on the reader's system - and if they're not that it's a huge red flag on many levels. Accessibility could be a legal issue if you do anything too dumb (as demonstrated as far back as when the Sydney Olympics website and its developer got fined).

As for using a font in printed material, what does your licence say? If the font is included as standard in a package intended for that purpose - such as MS Word - then surely the onus must be on them to be very clear about any usage restrictions! But IANAL.

[1] Or none at all, in the case of certain assistive devices such as those used by blind people.

[chas49]

I am designing a look and feel for a website and some published media. As part of that I am identifying suitable fonts that I have access to through MS Words (part of Microsoft 365). Can I freely use any font that I have access to via Word or are there copyright considerations? Here is one by way of an example

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/typogr ... y-hand-itc

If you follow the link to "Font redistribution FAQ for Windows" (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/typogr ... s/font-faq) in the page you linked, you will find a lengthy explanation of what MS allows you to do in this area. It's too complex to repost here. Apologies if you've already read that.

[mc2fool]

On the Web, the reader gets their own choice of font[1]. Something that's comfortable to read in the user's own circumstances, such as eyesight, screen size and quality, and lighting. Changes to that are at best harmless, but can be a serious hurdle to accessibility.

Nice theory. In reality, of the browsers I've got installed on my system, only Waterfox lets users override the font choices of the page and get their own choice of font.

Chrome, Edge and Opera (all the same engine of course) let you change the default fonts, but those only apply if the page hasn't made its own font choices or is using the generics (serif, sans-serif, monospace), and pages that don't specify font family(s) or use just the generics are few and far between.

In fact, on a quick poke around I only found one, Wikipedia, whereas those that do specify font family(s) include Google, the BBC, lemonfool, w3schools.com and ........... http://www.w3.org!

So, folks with accessibility issues of that sort will be using a browser that lets them force their own font choices (I'm sure Waterfox can't be the only one), which is not to say one can't make a messy website, but that can be done even with the default fonts.

[gryffron]

Most of the fonts on your PC are likely to "belong" to Windows, rather than Word. Also it is perfectly possible to "have access to" other fonts which you have downloaded from either opensource or commercial sources. These latter would be covered by their own licence agreements.

So sticking to the Windows-owned fonts:
The FAQ linked to raises more questions than it answers.

Unless you are using an application that is specifically licensed for home, student or non-commercial use, we do not restrict you from selling the things you print and make using the Windows-supplied fonts.

So does that mean that Windows 10 Home cannot be used for this purpose? I suspect not, since Windows 10 Home is still used, quite legitimately, for many small businesses. I suspect (but cannot prove) that the word "application" is referring to the cheaper versions of MSOffice licensed only for home or educational use. But then, there are plenty of free apps which use the windows fonts. How would MS know if you had used them to create your output?

I suspect the big issue here is not the fonts themselves, rather the App which uses them. Using non-commercial microsoft Apps (home or educational) to produce commercial output would itself be a breach of the software licence terms. Inclusion of Microsoft-provided fonts merely further evidence of the same breach.

If you are using any commercially licensed or free App, then the FAQ is clear: distributing the OUTPUT of the fonts is fine. Distributing the font files themselves is not. But there is little reason you would want to do the latter.

Gryff

[Lanark]

In addition to what others have said, if you are designing a 'look and feel', then presumably others will need to modify day to day copies of those documents in the future - those people will need access to a licenced copy of the font.

[csearle]

Can I freely use any font that I have access to via Word or are there copyright considerations?

Not sure if this will help old bean but in the late eighties I worked on a software package that scanned in text from print and assembled fonts for use on computers (not exactly PCs as we now know them because they were in their infancy). This was in Germany. The issue of copyright vis-a-vis fonts was addressed at that time I recall. The conclusion was, then, that if a font was altered by more than 5% (not sure how this was measured) then it was a "different" font as far as case-law differentiated. I kinda realise this is tangential to your query. C.