What constitutes sharing of fonts?

[Dave Dubé]

Since I only discovered Letterheads a couple of weeks ago, I haven't examined every link or every page. I've gone back in the forum at least six months, and I think I've read them all. I've never used an alternative font on my computer, nor am I actively involved in the sign arts as a business. I did a surface gold leaf project for a church here locally that involved over one hundred and eighty five and a half inch letters using a modified Roman 'font', but it was a gratis job. Fifty years ago I was sign painting as a income producer, including bank doors and windows, but no more. Over the past twenty years the lettering I've done is about the size of what you see in this post. Now I realize that the lettering is rough, but this is just a template I will use to produce twenty-five envelopes that will all be the same. The lettering is from somewhere here, and I liked it, so I 'copied' it by printing it out, and then putting it on paper the only way I've ever done it - by hand. Do you career sign artists have an issue with my use of the vintage fonts for one-off hand painted pieces?

[Mike Jackson]

I wouldn't call what you are doing "sharing" fonts. When people talk about "sharing fonts", they usually mean making copies of commercial fonts and giving them to others by either email, ftp, or some sort of disk. In other words, on person might buy a font from Adobe, then send copies of it their friends. They look at it as "sharing", but really they are "stealing" from Adobe because it robs them of a chance to sell that font to the other people. The person doing the "sharing" has obviously never digitized an entire font because it is a ton of work. All they know is they paid $21 for the font and feel they can now share them with their friends like a pack of gum.

If you simply redraw letters onto your own paper and enjoy them, I don't think anyone would ever cause you any problems, unless you start taking registered trade names or copyrighted logos and trying to sell cards or other products with that info on them. You'd need to consult a lawyer for more refined answers on this issue.

[Frank Smith]

Welcome here, Dave, I'm somewhat new here too. I looked up your work online it really got me thinking about how us creative folks find the niches we do. Anyway, the Eccentric French font you're going to use for the Royal Wedding envelope is one of my favorites. It was originally published in 1909. Here's a little more info- http://albanysigns.com/eccentric_french_font.htm#

As you can see, I went partners with a professional font designer to produce it as a computer font. The digital font is copyrighted and for sale for money, however the actual letterforms are not copyrightable in the US. Big time foundries steal each others designs and probably always will. Eccentric French was designed and included in Atkinson's book to be used very much as you are going to use it. Mr. Atkinson's only qualm with your use might be that you work too small

[Roderick Treece]

Frank,
Welcome to the Forum.
Some men ride Horses, some bulls, but it takes alot nerve to ride a kyack upside down ,on top of a car no less! Your "Portrait of Pablo" is the best use of vinyl i have ever seen !

Roderick
www.customglasssigns.com

[Bobbie Rochow]

Frank, I LOVE your pen & inks! That is pretty inspirational to me, haven't done any in so long!

[Frank Smith]

Roderick, thank you, I enjoy seeing my Pablo portrait every day in a corner of my studio. I priced it like he would, so it may not sell anytime soon. Maybe I should add a separate webpage of just the odd vinyl stuff I make...

Bobbie- pen & ink, of all the media, is my truest passion, sometimes. I've been working on a load of local landscapes I'll be uploading any day now. Next up will be Albany cityscapes. Do you have a website?

[Dave Dubé]

Thanks, Frank! I just got a look at your site and I'll be going back for more. It is really interesting how we all end up finding our way around. My wife encouraged me to quit being a color copy machine, so I've branched out and gone off the envelope of late. I started a blog, only because I have little enough time to do my art work w/o having to devote some of it to keeping a web site alive and well. I've still got my sign-painting kit, and occasionally wash the brushes up and oil them. They were all purchased in the fifties from Dick Blick, along with three cans of One-Shot that are still alive as well. I drove by an attorney's office this AM and noticed his painted window sign was cracking - not the gold leaf, but the painted and backed portion. I said something about it and the wife quipped that she wondered how many people would notice something like that...

[Dan Seese]

Dave,

Here's a window sign I did several years ago. The lettering was heavily influenced by Eccentric French from Atkinson's book which, as Frank Smith points out, is one of the fonts you're borrowing.

We all borrow from others. None of us are creative in the absolute sense; rather, we all work with the stuff given to us - hopefully as good stewards. True "creative geniuses" are few and far between (they're the ones we should gravitate toward and learn from), but even they don't work in a vacuum but draw from everything they've seen, experienced and been entrusted with. There is such a thing as Creation "ex-nihilo", but that discussion falls outside the boundaries of this forum.

What you're doing is true to the craft!

[Frank Smith]

This constitutes sharing of fonts:
http://www.fontspace.com/the-fontry/fha ... ric-french
A limited character version of Eccentric French is now free for non-commercial use.

It's legit; we hope to sell a few more full editions of it.