Re: Copyright grant for Adobe Times fonts?

On Tue, 11 Jul 2006, Robinson Tryon wrote:
> On 7/11/06, Marc Aurele La France <[email protected]> wrote:
>> On Tue, 11 Jul 2006, Robinson Tryon wrote:
>> > I've been working on a program that includes the Adobe Times font from
>> > the debian package x11/xfonts-75dpi.  That package is assembled from
>> > xfree86 sources.

>> > Several other fonts that come from xfree86 have explict copyright
>> > permissions -- for example the Bitstream Charter fonts, but I have
>> > been unable to find any record of Adobe giving a license for their
>> > 'Times' fonts.  I asked debian-legal, but no one could provide me with
>> > solid information about the upstream licensing.

>> > The font files themselves have "all-rights-reserved" copyright notices
>> > for Adobe and Digital:
>> > Copyright (c) 1984, 1987 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved.
>> > Copyright (c) 1988, 1991 Digital Equipment Corporation.  All Rights
>> > Reserved.  Times is a trademark of Linotype-Hell AG and/or its
>> > subsidiaries.

>> > The upstream license' section of the COPYRIGHT file for the
>> > xfonts-75dpi package does not appear to contain any pertinent
>> > information, other than mentioning Adobe's name in a long list of
>> > contributors.

>> > Does anyone know where I could find the explicit license from
>> > Adobe/Digital for these fonts to be included in Xfree86?

>> You are confusing copyright and license.

> You're right -- I should have written that more clearly.

>> The license says how the work can
>> be redistributed.  The copyright says who has the authority to grant such a
>> license.

> Agreed.

>> Rest assured that XFree86 does not include any font that cannot be
>> freely redistributed.   And by "freely redistributed", I mean without any
>> incumberances whatsoever.

> But the font files say (to paraphrase) "copyright Adobe/Digital, all
> rights reserved".  No one has been able to produce a license from
> Adobe that indicates that the Adobe Times fonts can be freely
> distributed.

> Other fonts included in XFree86 include a license from the copyright
> owner of the font.  For example, here is the one for Bitstream
> Charter:

> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> The Bitstream Type 1 fonts are under the following license:

> (c) Copyright 1989-1992, Bitstream Inc., Cambridge, MA.

> You are hereby granted permission under all Bitstream propriety rights
> to use, copy, modify, sublicense, sell, and redistribute the 4 Bitstream
> Charter (r) Type 1 outline fonts and the 4 Courier Type 1 outline fonts
> for any purpose and without restriction; provided, that this notice is
> left intact on all copies of such fonts and that Bitstream's trademark
> is acknowledged as shown below on all unmodified copies of the 4 Charter
> Type 1 fonts.

> BITSTREAM CHARTER is a registered trademark of Bitstream Inc.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> If I don't have a license for the Adobe Times font, then I can't
> (legally) distribute those files.  Right?

Oh, but you _do_ have a license, as Alan points out.

And the term "All Rights Reserved" simply means only the copyright holder has 
the right to change the license's terms.  You, as a licensee, cannot legally 
do so on a whim or otherwise.

Marc.

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