Copyright violation in the U.K. for a U.S. company? (copyright not valid in U.S.)

[justsomeguy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

So I realize this is only U.S. law so maybe my quick question is... Is there another site I can ask this at?

In the meantime I'll ask my question so someone might be able to answer or point me in the right direction.

The company I work for has an art department (2 people) they have been collecting Fonts for 20 years, through many different employees.

We used a font on an ad a few months back, then just recently got a copyright letter from the creator who is in The U.K.

In the U.K. you can copyright a font so it can not be used at all, in the U.S. you can only patent the font as a file, so it can't be re-distributed commercially, however anyone can use the font artistically all they want, or even copy it. They just can't redistribute it as software.

So in the U.S. using this font to create a graphic is legal, in the U.K. it's not.

I'm just wondering if the person trys to sue us in the U.K. what could happen? We're not a U.K. company and don't have a nexus there.

BTW since I know it's coming, we've already worked it out with our art department so that they will be checking all fonts before use, and I'm negotiating to pay this font designer anyway becuase it's the right thing to do, but I'm just curious about the situation since my office here was debating it..

Thanks!

 

[FlyingRon]

UK Law here http://www.thelawforum.co.uk

Your explanation is INCORRECT even for US law.

First, some terminology. First there is the TYPEFACE. This is the visible appearance of the characters. This is NOT protectable by copyright in the US.
Second is the FONT, this is the mechanism for producing the characters for a given typeface. This, typically takes the form of a specialized program in modern computers.
This very much CAN be protected by copyright.

Another issue is that many of the popular typeface/font names are TRADEMARKED.

Whether you copy something for non-commercial use or commercially REALLY doesn't address the LEGALITY of copying it, only the magnitude of the sanctions you are facing.
You can't copy copyrighted font files without authorization. Doesn't matter if you're doing so for commercial gain or not.

Yes, indeed, the UK recognizes copyright on type face.

 

[quincy]

To go along with what FlyingRon has said, you can be sued in the U.K. under U.K. copyright laws or in the U.S. under U.S. copyright laws. An injunction could be issued to prevent you from further unauthorized uses.

Ceasing your use (pulling your ad) and compensating the copyright holder for your prior use can both be good actions to take to prevent any legal action from being taken against you.

That said, it is a question whether the U.K. copyright holder would go to the expense of traveling to the U.S. to sue you, and the U.K. copyright holder cannot compel you to travel to the U.K. to be sued.

I suggest you do not send off any money to the U.K. rights holder without first having a personal review, by an attorney in your area, of the notice you received and the ad your company created that spawned the notice and the particular "U.K." font said to be copyrighted.

This review can help you judge better whether you have actually infringed on any rights or not.