I've always found this odd as well that when licensing web fonts, typically the foundries don't allow you to subset (or provide a subset version of their own).
mattigames 23 minutes ago [-]
In a world where art illustrations are being copied left and right by AI what is stopping the exact same thing to happen to typefaces? (And with it any license inconveniences)
Kerrick 17 minutes ago [-]
The design of typefaces aren’t copyrighted in the U.S. The only thing that is protected is the software: TTFs, OTFs, etc. [1] That’s why so many clones of popular fonts (and old metal type) exist.
These days the value in a font isn’t in the letterforms, it’s in the kerning, ligatures, variability, etc. which all flows from the software. It’s also where a significant amount of the labor in creating a typeface comes from. And it’s the thing that sets apart professional-quality fonts from many (but not all!) free ones.
If AI can write new font software by cloning bitmaps of letterforms _and_ get the kerning, ligatures, variability, etc. right… it’ll change the type foundry industry in a big way.
I've always found this odd as well that when licensing web fonts, typically the foundries don't allow you to subset (or provide a subset version of their own).
These days the value in a font isn’t in the letterforms, it’s in the kerning, ligatures, variability, etc. which all flows from the software. It’s also where a significant amount of the labor in creating a typeface comes from. And it’s the thing that sets apart professional-quality fonts from many (but not all!) free ones.
If AI can write new font software by cloning bitmaps of letterforms _and_ get the kerning, ligatures, variability, etc. right… it’ll change the type foundry industry in a big way.
[1]: https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ33.pdf