Font use as company logo

[zr0bot]

Forgive me, i'm sure this has been covered in some form already. Not quite sure how trademarks/copyrights work for font use. The font for the iconic Nasa logo (called "Nasalization" font") is available to customize on many font generator websites (image below). If I wanted to use this font to spell out my company name (not in any way similar to "NASA") as the official logo, would I be infringing on any rights? This would be a production company logo that we'd use on album art and on merchandise for sale on our website. Thanks in advance.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state?

 

[zr0bot]

What is the name of your state?

I'm in California.

 

[quincy]

I'm in California.

Thank you for providing your state name.

The font requires licensing but, as long as the license allows for it (and I believe it does), and as long as your company name and/or company logo design are original to you (not confusingly similar to another's), you can use the font for the purposes you describe.

I recommend you read the licensing terms carefully.

Good luck.

 

[zr0bot]

Thank you for providing your state name.

The font requires licensing but, as long as the license allows for it (and I believe it does), and as long as your company name and/or company logo design are original to you (not confusingly similar to another's), you can use the font.

I recommend you read the licensing terms carefully.

Good luck.

Thank you for the quick reply. Will do!

 

[quincy]

Here is a link to information on the font designer (Ray Laramie):

https://fonts.adobe.com/foundries/typodermic

Here is a link to the Adobe fonts licensing:
https://helpx.adobe.com/fonts/using/font-licensing.html

Good luck with your production company.

 

[zr0bot]

Here are links to information on the font designer (Ray Laramie):
https://fonts.adobe.com/designers/ray-larabie

https://fonts.adobe.com/foundries/typidermic

Here is a link to the Adobe fonts licensing:
https://helpx.adobe.com/fonts/using/font-licensing.html

Good luck with your production company.

Perfect! Thanks for making it easy Quincy. Looking through the fonts now! Looks like the process will be smoother than I thought.

 

[quincy]

Perfect! Thanks for making it easy Quincy. Looking through the fonts now! Looks like the process will be smoother than I thought.

The process isn't too difficult.

I appreciate the thanks.

 

[FlyingRon]

I'm going to do one of my rare disagreements with Quincy.

What you have here is not a FONT but a TYPEFACE. Typefaces are not protectable by copyright. You can roll them into your trademark as you like.

A font is the process (in this case the computer files) to make a typeface. The font is protectable by copyright. As long as you have obtained your fonts by legitimate means (either using ones truly under the public domain or via appropriate license), then you can do what you want with the output generated.

Here's a pretty good treatment: https://www.crowdspring.com/blog/font-law-licensing/

 

[quincy]

I'm going to do one of my rare disagreements with Quincy.

What you have here is not a FONT but a TYPEFACE. Typefaces are not protectable by copyright. You can roll them into your trademark as you like.

A font is the process (in this case the computer files) to make a typeface. The font is protectable by copyright. As long as you have obtained your fonts by legitimate means (either using ones truly under the public domain or via appropriate license), then you can do what you want with the output generated.

Here's a pretty good treatment: https://www.crowdspring.com/blog/font-law-licensing/

You can disagree but the designer of Nasalization and Adobe call it a font.

I never mentioned copyright protection. I mentioned licensing. Licensing is necessary.

 

[FlyingRon]

Eh? If there isn't copyright, there isn't any need to license. Despite what people CALL it, under the law the depiction of the letters is a TYPEFACE and not protectable.

 

[quincy]

Eh? If there isn't copyright, there isn't any need to license. Despite what people CALL it, under the law the depiction of the letters is a TYPEFACE and not protectable.

The software is licensed.

 

[FlyingRon]

Yeah, so no problem. Presumably, that's been taken care of by the website he's using. The output is not subject to protection.

 

[quincy]

Yeah, so no problem. Presumably, that's been taken care of by the website he's using. The output is not subject to protection.

Okay. We agree on licensing but disagree on what Nasalization is. I would call it a font because the designer and Adobe call it a font.

 

[JefferyOllsan]

You can use any font to design a logo, regardless of who created it.

Copyright does not authorize any copyright to a font design that they have created. So anyone can create a logo using any available font.

While a font cannot be copyrighted, the digital font file copyright itself may be protected. Therefore, you cannot buy one font online and give it away or sell it to someone else. The code used to reproduce the font on your computer or printer is copyrighted, but the font design is not.

So if you Designing a logo using Hoefler & Co's Gotham, and converting letterforms to a vector format, you can safely provide the vector file to your client for use. But you can't give them a copy of the font file that they can use. They had to buy their own.