Do I need to buy a license for a font to use it in an iPhone game?

Question

I am using the Calibri font in a game that I am developing for the iPhone, and I'm unsure if I need to pay for a license for it. I use the font in Adobe Photoshop to generate textures that are then used and displayed at runtime. I will not embed the font binary in the game.

Do I need a license for the Calibri font? If I do, does anyone know about how much a font license would cost in a case like this?

Thanks!

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EDIT: I wrote Ascender Corporation and asked them about this issue. Here is the e-mail conversation:

Ascender Corportation,

The game I am making will only be available on the Apple App Store for the iPhone/iPod Touch platform. I am not embedding the font in the game, I am only using it in Adobe Photoshop to generate textures that will be displayed when the game is running. Please, tell me about the license that fits this circumstance.

-Andrew

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Andrew,

Thank you for the additional information. We can provide you with a license to distribute the Calibri regular font in a single game title, on just the iPhone/iPod Touch platform in one bitmap size for $750. Our standard license term for game developers is a perpetual term but for Calibri we can only provide renewable two year terms. We have reduced the license fee to reflect the shorter term. You can renew the license for additional two year terms at your option. There are no unit reporting requirements and the license fee includes warranty and indemnification from Ascender Corporation.

Please let me know if you have any questions or if you want to proceed with a license. Best regards, Ascender Corporation

This seems a little egregious, $750 for a single size? I am not even confident that the game I am making will make that much! Does this sound right?

Answer 1

I am not a lawyer, but Calibri is a standard font. Your work is derived from that font, so no you do not owe any royalties on it.

Generally, it would be up to the foundry to price the royalties.

Edit I believe they are confused that you are making a bitmap with each shape of the letter and using that to render text.

I didn't read this, but Adobe is a good resource on the matter.

http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/antipiracy/ff_faq.html

Answer 2

To my understanding, you're allowed to use them royalty-free without restriction, you just can't redistribute them.

Answer 3

According to the Free Software Foundation, "[I]n the US... [a] font face -- that is, the look of a font, is not copyrightable."

So there you go.

Answer 4

Well I couldn't find anything conclusive. When in doubt, there are open source fonts available.

Answer 5

I am not a lawyer, but I don't think you owe them a dime.

You state that you are only using the font to produce "textures" -- presumably meaning that the font is used to render specific characters into a bitmap image, quite possibly an image that contains other, original elements -- and that you are not redistributing the font "binary".

I would further guess that you are not rendering each and every character of the font into a separate bitmap and then combining those bitmaps on the fly in your app to produce the "textures." (That would probably cross the line and be considered "redistributing the font," albeit in a different form.)

Suppose that you were an artist, commissioned to create a poster for an event. You happened to use Calibri font in Photoshop to spell out the words "Tickets go on sale September 27" on the poster. Does this mean you owe the creator of Calibri a royalty, because you are "redistributing" multiple posters, and perhaps re-using the poster image on a website? Absolutely not, because you are not redistributing the font itself -- that is, all of the independent characters, in a way that they can be recombined arbitrarily.

[As for their pricing, it's entirely up to them to set the price at $750 or $75K or $7, and none of those numbers is more "right" than any other. But it sounds like they want to sell you the right to redistribute the entire font (all the characters) as a set of bitmaps. That is waaay different from your simple use of the font to create static images, a right that you already have paid for with your Photoshop license.]

Update: Typography.com appears to agree with me:

Bitmap graphics (gif, jpg, png) There's no difference between using a font to create a printed page and using it to create a pixellated image. As long as the person creating the images has licensed the fonts, no additional license is needed.

Answer 6

See a lawyer. If you're in the US, get in touch with your local Bar Association. Tell them your issue and let them set you up with a consultation.

Of course, a few hours of a lawyer's time can easily run over $750, so if you're going to want any sort of representation or formal legal advice it could be cheaper to pay the $750, but it'll be worth the initial consulting fee to get a professional to explain the law to you.