[Bug 820642] Review Request: figlet - A program for making large letters out of ordinary text

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https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=820642

--- Comment #20 from Claudio Matsuoka <cmatsuoka@xxxxxxxxx> 2012-05-17 09:07:44 EDT ---

> Who "considers [them] insufficently creative to copyright"?

I did a small research on the subject and found the following pieces of
information on the comp.fonts FAQ. Note however that this is valid only in US,
and more important to the topic of this discussion, all fonts with
objectionable licenses are part of a set of contributed fonts which are not
part of the main figlet package (which contains only properly licensed
material). It is relevant only if an extra package containing contributed fonts
is to be generated.

  Volume 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations specifies this about the
  copyrightability of typefaces:

  "The following are examples of works not subject to copyright and
  applications for registration of such works cannot be entertained: . . .
  typeface as typeface" 37 CFR 202.1(e).

  The regulation is in accordance with the House of Representatives report
  that accompanied the new copyright law, when it was passed in 1976:

  "The Committee has considered, but chosen to defer, the possibility of
  protecting the design of typefaces.  A 'typeface' can be defined as a
  set of letters, numbers, or other symbolic characters, whose forms are
  related by repeating design elements consistently applied in a
  notational system and are intended to be embodied in articles whose
  intrinsic utilitarian function is for use in composing text or other
  cognizable combinations of characters.  The Committee does not regard
  the design of typeface, as thus defined, to be a copyrightable
  'pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work' within the meaning of this bill
  and the application of the dividing line in section 101."  H. R. Rep.
  No.  94-1476, 94th Congress, 2d Session at 55 (1976), reprinted in 1978
  U.S. Cong. and Admin. News 5659, 5668.

  It's also in accordance with the one court case I know of that has
  considered the matter: Eltra Corp. V. Ringer, 579 F.2d 294, 208 USPQ 1
  (1978, C.A. 4, Va.).

  The U.S. Copyright Office holds that a bitmapped font is nothing more
  than a computerized representation of a typeface, and as such is not
  copyrightable:

  "The [September 29, 1988] Policy Decision [published at 53 FR 38110]
  based on the [October 10,] 1986 Notice of Inquiry [published at 51 FR
  36410] reiterated a number of previous registration decisions made by
  the [Copyright] Office.  First, under existing law, typeface as such is
  not registerable.  The Policy Decision then went on to state the
  Office's position that 'data that merely represents an electronic
  depiction of a particular typeface or individual letterform' [that is, a
  bitmapped font] is also not registerable."  57 FR 6201.

  However, scalable fonts are, in the opinion of the Copyright Office,
  computer programs, and as such are copyrightable:

  "... the Copyright Office is persuaded that creating scalable typefonts
  using already-digitized typeface represents a significant change in the
  industry since our previous [September 29, 1988] Policy Decision.  We
  are also persuaded that computer programs designed for generating
  typeface in conjunction with low resolution and other printing devices
  may involve original computer instructions entitled protection under the
  Copyright Act.  For example, the creation of scalable font output
  programs to produce harmonious fonts consisting of hundreds of
  characters typically involves many decisions in drafting the
  instructions that drive the printer.  The expression of these decisions
  is neither limited by the unprotectable shape of the letters nor
  functionally mandated.  This expression, assuming it meets the usual
  standard of authorship, is thus registerable as a computer program."  57
  FR 6202."

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