Boing Boing: Do you use a font through Adobe's font platform? Is it Proxima Nova? Users of the typeface report being threatened by a foundry that claims to represent its creator, and Adobe isn't taking calls. The copyright troll business model, where lawyers demand money from people who know that proving their innocence would cost even more, has come to the land of fancy fonts.
3 comments:
Copyright trolls are people or companies that prey on people who may not have an intricate understanding of copyright laws… in other words: most of us. They claim to represent companies who produce an intangible product such as music, or digital images. These “agencies” leverage fake copyright strikes and other tools to try to scrounge people for royalties they don’t even need to pay. One such example near to myself is music strikes on youtube, where several of my videos not making any money suddenly had ads placed on them, despite no music in the video! These companies simply mass claim videos or other commercial content without any intention of actually pursuing legal action, because any legal action would immediately be struck down by a judge. This latest example has to do with fonts, specifically on Adobe’s products. As much as I hate Adobe as a company, they shouldn’t have to deal with this frustrating and abusive business practice, and even worse, indie designers using their products shouldn’t have to deal with it either.
In this day and age copyright infringement is a huge problem for all parties. Between users pirating and companies changing their licensing, no one knows what's going on. In the case of this article, the maker of a specific font is threatening to sue users because they do not have the right licensing. This is the Copyright troll business model, where money is demanded from a company and the consumer knows that fighting it will cost more so they just pay the company. This is an easy way for companies to get money, and now it has been introduced to the world of fonts. Unfortunately for the user the company provides no evidence of wrongdoing by the consumer and only demands money. Unfortunately, this has become a way of life and there is no good way to fight off these claims.
Post a Comment