In today's digital world, large sectors of the populations spend much of their days using a computer. Whether you're writing a report for school, preparing a presentation for work, or writing a novel, we all spend lots of time in word processors. All that typing also means that we are constantly using fonts. You may not have thought about fonts much. But an interesting lawsuit raised important questions about the intersection between copyright law—which protects creator's original creations from infringement—and the frequent practice of downloading and using fonts for personal or business reasons.

Facts of the Lawsuit

Font Bureau, Inc. designs and sells many different kinds of fonts. In a 2009 lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Font Bureau claimed that media powerhouse NBC Universal (NBC) misused fonts owned by Font Bureau. Specifically, the company claimed that NBC copied the computer software containing certain fonts designed by Font Bureau and used the copied software in its business.

Font Bureau sued for $2 million, alleging that it lost profits from licensing the fonts, and its relationships with current and new clients have been damaged, all because of NBC's impermissible use of the fonts.

Fonts, Copyright Laws, and Licensing

Before analyzing the lawsuit, it will be helpful to understand some terminology. First, a "font" is a computer file or program that is used to tell your printer how to print the shape of a letter of character or how it is supposed to appear on your computer screen. The actual shape of the letters and characters is called the "typeface." For example, "Times New Roman" is a typeface, but the software that tells your printer how to print an "A" in Times New Roman is the font.

The U.S. Copyright Act of 1976 protects "original works of authorship," such as writings, art work, and music. It also protects computer software. A copyright gives the owner the right to control the way his work is used by others. You ordinarily need the owner's permission to copy and use copyrighted work. U.S. copyright laws do not cover typefaces, but fonts may be protected by copyright so long as they qualify as a computer software or a program. Today, most fonts you come across are in fact programs or software.

Licensing is when an owner of copyrighted material lets someone use that material. When it comes to fonts and computer software, a license is usually called an End User License Agreement. Usually, users are charged a fee for the license, and the agreement limits how users may use the software. For example, an agreement typically lets someone use software on one computer only, but not on multiple computers or networks.

Therein lies the issue in the Font Bureau case: the company claimed that the licensing agreement it had with NBC allowed NBC to use the fonts in only one place or location, but NBC copied the software and used it in other offices or business units. Although this case eventually settled between Font Bureau and NBC, the conflict raised some interesting legal issues.

Using Fonts for Personal and Business Reasons

If you buy a font program, either from a brick-and-mortar store or from an online retailer, a licensing agreement will be included. Read it carefully. There likely will be a lot to read, but it will probably say that you cannot download the software to more than one computer and that you cannot give it to anyone else to use. If you follow the rules, you may use the fonts your own personal or business needs.

There are "free" fonts, too, but you need to be careful. Some websites that offer "free" fonts actually offer fonts that were illegally copied. If you download a stolen or "pirated" font and the owner discovers it, you may be guilty of copyright infringement. If so, you may have to pay the owner money damages, and maybe even turnover any profits you made by using the fonts.

That is basically what Font Bureau argued against NBC.

Here are some tips to help you avoid legal trouble:

• If you buy font software and are allowed to download it to one computer only, but you need to install it on more than one computer, buy another license for each computer.
• Do not give your software to anyone else to "borrow" and resist the temptation to take the software if it is offered to you by a friend or colleague.
• Before you download "free" fonts from one of the hundreds of websites that offer them, check to see if the website offers any copyright information about the fonts. Do they have permission to give the fonts away?
• Check web sites of companies like Font Bureau that design and license fonts. These companies offer some of their fonts for free.

It can be fun to play around with different typefaces when designing a brochure or party invitation. Just be certain the one you select is available for your purposes.

Questions for Your Attorney

• I just got a letter from a software company demanding that I stop using its fonts in my Web design business. What should I do?
• I bought a used laptop and it has some font software installed on it. Can I use that software?
• My friend gave me a copy of a font program she bought, and when I installed it on my computer, I completed the online software registration forms that popped up automatically. Does that mean I have a license to use the software and fonts?