Can You Copyright a Typeface?
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In more than thirty years in this industry, the most common mistake I see in aspiring designer portfolios is a page of logos that are just neatly typeset logotypes. Clean spacing and a well-chosen face prove you have taste. They do not prove you have a vision, or that you read what you agreed to when you licensed the font.
What is the difference between a typeface and a font?
A typeface is the design. A font is the file that delivers it. Helvetica is a typeface. HelveticaNeue-Bold.otf is a font.
In the United States, you cannot copyright a typeface design, but you can copyright a font file. The Copyright Office treats letterforms as useful articles rather than creative works. A font file is software, and software is protected by copyright. Redrawing a typeface by hand is legal. Distributing the file is not.
The rule comes from a 1978 Copyright Office regulation, upheld that year in Eltra Corp. v. Ringer. Letterforms exist to convey language, which makes them functional, and function is not copyrightable. A typeface is treated the way a spoon is treated.
Can you copyright a font file?
Yes. A font file is a computer program, and programs are protected like any other software.
The case that settled it is Adobe Systems v. Southern Software, 1998. Southern Software copied Adobe's files, nudged a few control points, and sold the results under new names. The court found the code plotting those points was original expression.
| What it is | Protected by | What that stops |
|---|---|---|
| The typeface design | Design patent, 15 years, and only if filed | Someone manufacturing the same design |
| The font file | Copyright, automatically | Copying or distributing the file |
| The typeface name | Trademark | Someone else selling a different face as Helvetica |
| The license | Contract | Whatever you agreed not to do |
Trademark protects what identifies a source. A logo qualifies, because the drawing points to one company. A typeface does not, because letterforms are a tool for writing anything. Helvetica is a trademark of Monotype, so redrawing the design is legal and calling your version Helvetica is not.
Do you need a special license to use a font in a logo?
Usually you do not, but the answer lives in the license rather than the law. Most desktop licenses permit logo use. Some foundries prohibit it outright. Others sell a separate logo or trademark license for an additional fee. Merchandise is a separate grant again.
House Industries sued Shake Shack over exactly this, arguing its license barred using Neutraface to build a logo. The case failed because House could not prove the font software was ever used. The public is free to replicate a typeface, provided the software did not produce the result.
Why draw your own logotype?
Two reasons, and only one of them is about money.
Nobody else can have it. A logotype set in a licensed font is a selection, not a mark. Your competitor can license the same face tomorrow, set the same word, and arrive at something identical and equally legal. Drawn letterforms carry a personality that belongs to one company, and they can be registered as a trademark, because they identify a source.
Licensing at scale gets expensive fast. Foundries increasingly price digital use by impressions rather than by seat, which means the bill grows with your audience. Netflix left Gotham in 2018 for a typeface it commissioned from Dalton Maag. Its brand design lead said the switch saved millions of dollars a year, and that owning the design mattered as much as the savings. Apple, Google, Samsung, and IBM all draw their own for the same two reasons.
Every logo we design at Cynda Media Lab includes a custom drawn logotype. For many clients we go further and design a unique typeface, then build a font their organization owns.
The junior designers who get this wrong are almost never trying to steal anything. But a portfolio has to demonstrate a designer's vision rather than their taste, which matters more in today's job market than it ever has.
Try this today. Set your next logotype in the face you had in mind. Then draw it, on paper or in Bézier curves, until it is yours. The second version is the one you can own. None of this is legal advice, which is exactly why you should read your own license.
Letterforms are a material, not a menu. The law will let you rent someone else's or draw your own, and only one of those is still yours in the years to come.
FAQ
Is it illegal to copy a font? Copying and sharing a font file without a license infringes copyright, because the file is software. The design drawn inside it is not protected in the United States. The file is what the law covers.
Can you copyright a logo made from an existing font? A logotype set in an existing typeface with no modification is usually refused copyright registration, because the Copyright Office considers it typographic material. It can still be protected as a trademark, which is how most logotypes are protected anyway.
Are typefaces protected outside the United States? Yes, in many countries. The United Kingdom protects typeface designs for 25 years under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Germany and much of the European Union protect them under design law. The United States is the outlier.
C.J. Yeh is a founder and ECD at Cynda Media Lab and a co-founder of DSGN BY D. He is also a tenured professor and curriculum chair of Creative Technology and Design at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Sources
- 37 C.F.R. § 202.1(e), the Copyright Office regulation excluding typeface designs from registration.
- Eltra Corp. v. Ringer, 579 F.2d 294 (4th Cir. 1978).
- Adobe Systems Inc. v. Southern Software Inc., N.D. Cal., 1998.
- Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard, "Fonts and Typefaces: When Do You Need to License?" on House Industries v. Shake Shack. https://cdas.com/fonts-and-typfaces-when-do-you-need-to-license/
- Creative Bloq, "A complete guide to font licensing for designers," on logo use under desktop licenses. https://www.creativebloq.com/features/font-licensing
- Adweek, "Netflix Created a Clean, Custom Font That Could Save the Company Millions," March 2018. https://www.adweek.com/creativity/netflix-created-a-clean-custom-font-that-could-save-the-company-millions/
- Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, sections 54 and 55, on the 25 year term for typeface designs in the United Kingdom.