illegal t-shirts?

[Alex Cormier]

If i design some t-shirts and use some font from windows word, does that make the shirts ilegal to sell on the internet?

[Ryan Dognaux]

Originally Posted by Alex Cormier

If i design some t-shirts and use some font from windows word, does that make the shirts ilegal to sell on the internet?

Are you asking if it is illegal to use a font that is selectable in Microsoft Word? Fonts aren't native to a program, there are actual Windows Font files. And as far as I know, unless the font is trademarked you should be fine. All the standard fonts that come with Windows should be fair game and there are tons more on www.1001freefonts.com

If you're talking about using the font on the actual logo, I don't think it is copyrighted either. It looks pretty generic to me, some sans-serif font could be substituted in that would be very close, if not identical.

[Eugenia Gabrielov]

I don't believe it's illegal - actually, it may be more efficient to save your file as a .pdf and submit it as an image - this may make it easier to work with in the long run.

[jtdowney]

You may want to read around http://www.typeright.org. I would suggest sticking to the big names like Arial and Helvetica if you are worried about the legal rights to use fonts since those are so common.

[artdutra04]

As long as the font is licensed for commercial work, then it is okay to use it. With free fonts, you have to go on a trial-by-trial basis. Some font authors strictly prohibit you from using it for commercial uses. Some want royalties. Some only want you to ask permission first. If you do download freeware fonts, look in the readme file to see what their author allows.

Or, if you have ever purchased a commercial font (such as this one from Adobe, as an example), most of these are licensed for commercial use, as long as you don't actually redistribute the actual font file. (I picked Myriad Pro, because that's the font used by Apple for all their headlines and marketing, which is obviously commercial uses.)

[EHaskins]

MOST Microsoft fonts are under a very permissive license. I think what you're doing would be fine with MS fonts, but check the license yourself, its been a while since I looked.

Although MS fonts are relativity safe to use, not all the fonts in Word are MS fonts, many are from other vendors, installed by the OEM and/or installed software. Those fonts may not be legal to use.

You will need to find the license for the font you want to use, and read it.

[mtaman02]

I thought a Font was just that, a Font. That it was universal that can be used by any program or person. I'm pretty sure the text I'm typing in is Arial.

So If I use the Arial Font and it has a license that can only be used by the person who came up with it; that means this font is for just their use?

[EHaskins]

Originally Posted by mtaman02

I thought a Font was just that, a Font. That it was universal that can be used by any program or person. I'm pretty sure the text I'm typing in is Arial.

So If I use the Arial Font and it has a license that can only be used by the person who came up with it; that means this font is for just their use?

Fonts are licensed, just like software. When you're website, for example, uses a font, it doesn't redistribute the font, it just tells the viewer to use the specified font, if available. If you tell the viewer to use their licensed copy of that font there is no issue, but if you redistribute the font, you may be braking the license.

Microsoft has some good info on font licensing, just do a search for "font license".

Hope that answers your question.

[jtdowney]

A font is just like any other content someone creates in that it is under a copyright and will have a license to use it. Some fonts that come with windows are under a very loose license while other used by professional designers are limited to how many times the font can be rasterized (printed) unless they pay for more.