Don't get caught using unlicensed fonts.

A report in America has raised the problem of copyright ownership in relation to fonts. NBC has been sued for $2 million for using unlicensed fonts in some high profile TV programmes such as "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," "Saturday Night Live," and "The Jay Leno Show."

We have so many free fonts at our disposal from Corel, Apple and Microsoft, etc., we have perhaps let our guard down to some degree in this area and we have not had a high profile case like this for some time. However it does highlight the fact that the copyright owners are being eternally vigilant in their efforts to score big time from the illegal usage of their property ownership.

In the NBC case above, the story goes that the company did purchase a usage license for three fonts yet widely distributed the fonts beyond their limitations as outlined in their license.

As printers reproducing fonts everyday, you have the potential of being unwittingly guilty should you reproduce an unlicensed copyright protected font. Perhaps it would make sense when accepting artwork that your conditons of print include a paragraph that would give you some protection in this regard. You have been warned!!

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