Comment by amelius
A font without copyright is not a real font.
A font without copyright is not a real font.
Huh, TIL: https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ33.pdf
> Copyright law does not protect typeface or mere variations of typographical ornamentation or lettering. A typeface is a set of letters, numbers, or other characters with repeating design elements that is intended to be used in composing text or other combinations of characters, including calligraphy. Generally, typeface, fonts, and lettering are building blocks of expression that are used to create works of authorship. The Office cannot register a claim to copyright in typeface or mere variations of typographic ornamentation or lettering, regardless of whether the typeface is commonly used or unique.
Given the incredible amount of work that goes into designing a typeface I find that really surprising.
Wikipedia has some good coverage on this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property_protecti...
Apparently you CAN protect the implementation of a typeface, e.g. the font file itself. Wikipedia says:
> Typefaces and their letter forms are considered utilitarian objects whose public utility outweighs any private interest in protecting their creative elements under US law, but the computer program that is used to display a typeface, a font file[a] of computer instructions in a domain-specific programming language may be protectable by copyright. In 1992, the US Copyright Office determined that digital outline fonts had elements that could be protected as software[13] if the source code of the font file "contains a sufficient amount of original authorship".
Likewise I think it is extremely dubious that models can be copyrighted at all, for the exact same reason you can't copyright a phonebook or database. The entire regime of claiming to release models under various licenses is bullshit, because you can't copyright rote transformations of things either.
This is definitely going to be argued over in court at some point, along with many other questions about AI and copyright.
Speaking of which, why is it taking so long to get a supreme court decision on whether or not training counts as copyright infringement? The only court cases that have been resolved so far have settled on unrelated grounds without touching the core issue.
Typefaces cannot be copyrighted in the US, so that’s really irrelevant.