RE: New work on fonts at W3C

On Tuesday, June 16, 2009 1:09 PM Brad Kemper wrote:

 

From: www-style-request@w3.org [mailto:www-style-request@w3.org] On
Behalf Of Brad Kemper
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 1:09 PM
To: Adam Twardoch
Cc: www-style@w3.org; Mikko Rantalainen
Subject: Re: New work on fonts at W3C

 

It would seem that that they also want to re-charge us for the same
fonts we already paid for once (like the movie industry practice that
most of us not in the movie industry despises), or to have us pay extra
based on how widely we use them. Fonts used in print or PDF do not have
this last restriction. I can spend a couple hundred dollars on a font
and then use it to print millions of copies of hundreds of different
print and video pieces, or to render into images or PDF for use on the
Web. This is where foundries feel there is still some money left on the
table that they want to take. Indeed, in the new Monotype license press
release that you linked to, there is this:

 

> Fonts that were licensed prior to the availability of the new EULA
will need to be repurchased, if EOT rights are desired.

 

Why, except to squeeze more money out of Web publishers? Earlier in the
document, it says that this license comes with no extra cost, but it
sounds more as though the truth is that the cost has just been folded
into the price that everyone must pay for a Monotype font. 

 

People who actually do pay for multiple copies of the same font would do
so even if the font was in a "raw" format. Those who would not would
simply convert it, or not use it at all.

 

 

 

This is another reality of the world we live in. The new EULA grants new
rights and with them comes a new set of restrictions. Unfortunately, we
cannot grant new rights to customers without having them agree to abide
by certain restrictions in the new EULA. In this particular case, it has
nothing to do with money.