fonts for commerical use

[pumpkinkween]

Hello all,

I have a question that I hope someone might be able to help with. I was researching what fonts are best for novels and it got me thinking, "Are the fonts pre-installed on my computer free for commercial use?".

Well, after some research, the short answer to that question, is no. According to most websites, the most popular fonts for novels are Minion, Garamond, Palatino, Helvetica, Book Antiqua, & Bookman old style. Most of these fonts were pre-installed on my computer but I have contacted a couple of the developers of these fonts (informed them of my situation and that the font is pre-installed on my computer) and asked if commercial use of fonts for the main text of a novel/ebook was allowed, the answer seems to always be, "Yes, if you purchase a license.".

Does anyone know of any popular sans serif fonts that are free for commercial use (with a license to prove it)?

Is anyone else running into this problem? I haven't seen anyone mention it before. The only 'font' issues I've come across were about fonts that were on covers, not the main text of novels/ebooks. I think a lot of people just assume that if it's pre-installed on your computer, you may use it for personal AND commercial use, and that just doesn't seem to be the case.

Thanks.

[Nathaniel Phillips]

I don't recall where I saw it (maybe in the SW Style Guide?) but I believe that the SW Meatgrinder only allows a few standard fonts. Any other font will get converted to one of the available fonts or changed to the default.

In my case, one book had a hand-written note and I used a script font. Meatgrinder changed it to Times New Roman Bold.

Even if you bought the rights to use some nice type-set book font, it would never get through the meatgrinder.

[pumpkinkween]

That's good to know, thanks. Perhaps I'm looking at this the wrong (and overly obsessive) way. I should probably be asking the good peeps at SW this question.

[Ted]

You can use any font which comes with your computer, or with any software you purchase, for writing a novel and publishing it.

Stick with the fonts and the font styles recommended by Smashwords and you'll be assured your work will be viewable by all ereading devices.

[pumpkinkween]

I've come back to shine a little light on this subject in case anyone else ever wonders about this.
I contacted smashwords and was told "It appears that Meatgrinder accepts/converts to Times New Roman, Arial, and Courier." Basically, no matter what font you use, it will be converted to one of the three listed. The only exception is .pdf and .rtf formats which preserve your font style.

I've also looked into the legal aspects of using fonts in ebooks, and apparently, according to Microsoft, it is a myth that you are allowed to use any fonts that come with your system/computer for commerical purposes. You are only allowed to "review" those fonts and if you chose to use them for commercial purposes such as text in a ebook, you have to purchase a license. To look more into it, you can go here www.microsoft.com/typography/fonts/ and select the font in question... it will send you to a page where there is information about purchasing the font if you don't have it as well as purchasing a license if you intend to use the font for commercial purposes.

I contacted Monotype Imaging (typography) who are the publishers of Bookman Old Style (which is the font I originally wanted to use), as well as Times New Roman, Arial and Courier and according to them, if I want to use their font in my ebook, I would have to purchase a license which costs $200 for each year that I sell or distribute (for free) my book to the public. Here is what their email said: "The cost would be $200 per year. Although the font comes with your operating system, it wasn't licensed to be embedded in an ebook.".. and they are right, if you check the fonts properties, there is a license notification stating your limitations for the use of the font.

Now technically, smashwords is not our publisher, therefor not accountable in the case that any of us are sued by Monotype Imaging. Anyone who uses smashwords services, who does not have a license, is taking the risk of being sued.

Grrr.

I suppose I'll be publishing only to pdf and rtf with free fonts that I have license agreement for commerical use for.

[Ted]

Thanks, pumpkinkween, for researching font usage for ebooks. Clarifies the issue of fonts useable in ebooks.

[Nathaniel Phillips]

This is a serious issue. It has me wondering if I should unpublish all of my books until I find either a free/public domain font. I cannot afford $200 per year per font.

Even if I find a free for commercial use font, it will not get through the meatgrinder, so as pumpkinween said, this means only distributing .pdf and .rtf. This means selling only on SW since no epub will be available.

I was just getting ready to upload my new novel to publish, but now I will hold onto it until this font licensing issue is sorted out.

[Nathaniel Phillips]

I found this, and I am going to explore some of these options.

www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/11/08/40-excellent-freefonts-for-professional-design/

The MG Open Moderna looks interesting. I am going to read the license agreement again carefully, but it looks like it is truly free for commercial use including publishing.

Also, Liberation Serif looks interesting. It is a Public domain GNU GPL

I may unpublish my books, reformat them into a free font, then republish in .pdf and .rtf formats only for now.

[Ted]

Follow the money. If Monotype was going to seek licenses for commercial use of their fonts would they not look to companies like Amazon for payment or to advise their authors to purchase licenses for print (CreateSpace) or Kindle ebooks? I don't recall seeing anything on KDP regarding purchasing of font license prior to uploading work to KDP for processing. Amazon has been around many years more than Smashwords.

Also, Smashwords doesn't mention purchasing a license for a font and in fact suggests- like KDP - certain fonts for use in ebooks.

I'll await a letter from Smashwords or Amazon, or even Monotype, requesting I need a font license for my ebooks. When I receive such a letter I'll change font for ebooks to one of the commercial-free variants of Arial and upload the new versions.

Another place for free True Type fonts that can be used commercially is the GNU Organization here.

A font site I've used is Font Park dot Net It has freeware, commercial, and personal use licenses. Not all fonts are great, so you are warned.

Another font site I've used is Font Squirrel. Large collection of fonts too. Same warning about fonts as Font Park.

[Nathaniel Phillips]

Well, I can see your point Ted. However, my view is that, if the fonts are copyrighted and require a license for commercial use, why not used fonts that are free for commercial use. I have spent some time today researching fonts.

Red Hat, Inc. (the Linux people) offer their "Liberation" fonts. They are 100% free even for commercial use under the GNU GPL.

Liberation Sans is an Arial style font.
Liberation Serif is a Times New Roman style font.
Liberation Mono is a Courier style font.

They can be downloaded and used for free, and are available in standard font files (like .ttf).

The risk, as I see it, is not that Monotype would send you a nice letter saying that you need to license their fonts or stop using them. The risk is that they will send you a letter saying that you have violated their licensing agreement for the fonts and they are suing you for years of licensing fees plus "damages" plus legal fees. If could get really ugly and expensive.

If completely free fonts are available, I think it would be wise to eliminate the problem by switching to the free fonts. Unfortunately, that requires that SW reconfigure the meatgrinder to use the new free fonts. That is beyond our control.

I have sent Mark an email regarding the free fonts.

I am not a lawyer, and I don't even play one on TV. However, I know some lawyers, and I am concerned.

[Ted]

I'm not going to lose any sleep over the use of fonts in my ebooks. In my ebooks I'm selling the story or the puzzles, not the font. The end user of my ebooks can change font size and in many ereaders allow changing of font type. Am I as an author supposed to have a license for every font style which an ereader device may possibly display?

[Nathaniel Phillips]

I don't know enough about epub format to answer that. For example, if epub is a simple text format with "markers" that say 'this section is bold' and 'this section is italic', etc. and the user can select any font they want to view your book, then you are not distributing the font. The user is using the font that is installed on their reader under the license that they have - the right to use the font to display information on their own reader.

However, if epub includes the font, that is, it is not just distributing text, but is distributing text in Times New Roman font, that is different.

Your earlier point is well taken, though. If this really were a legal issue, then you would think that Monotype and others would have taken some action already - people have been publishing ebooks for years. On the surface, though, it LOOKS like it could be a problem, but maybe it really isn't.

[Nathaniel Phillips]

Sorry folks, I really am not trying to beat this one to death.

Something that Ted said started me thinking last night - about owning every font on every ereader that your customers use. And in that, I believe, is the answer. I don't think it really matters if you publish in Times New Roman, for example, in an ebook format because the customer's reader is going to have Times New Roman font installed and licensed for THEM to VIEW your book on their reader. You are not "giving" them the font. You are providing book content and included in that content is the "instruction" to their ebook reader to display it in Times New Roman using their license for viewing.

Now if we were printing paper books in Times New Roman and selling them, it would be different.

I am reasonably satisfied that this is not an issue. Sorry if I blew it out of proportion.

[Ted]

Kindle devices come preloaded with their own custom fonts, and perhaps other digital devices do to in order to avoid paying font license fees.

That being the case, paying for a font that won't actually be used or displayed on a digital device seems fruitless as the font used to create the ebook never ended up being used commercially to the benefit of the end user.

Embedding a font with your original document so it will be viewable in a digital device is where the license issue comes into play. But Kindle devices at this moment, and perhaps other digital devices, don't allow embedded fonts. At a cost of 200 hundred dollars a year for a fancy font that is likely used sparingly in a digital book makes the future for freeware fonts look bright.

[Julie Harris]

My Kobo ereader allows you to download ANY font (from your PC) for a personalized reading experience. Its default is Georgia. I agree with Ted. Don't pay for a font - your readers will choose their own anyway.