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- Copyright FAQ
- =============
-
- 1. I don't understand the resale restriction... What gives?
-
- Bitstream is giving away these fonts, but wishes to ensure its
- competitors can't just drop the fonts as is into a font sale system
- and sell them as is. It seems fair that if Bitstream can't make money
- from the Bitstream Vera fonts, their competitors should not be able to
- do so either. You can sell the fonts as part of any software package,
- however.
-
- 2. I want to package these fonts separately for distribution and
- sale as part of a larger software package or system. Can I do so?
-
- Yes. A RPM or Debian package is a "larger software package" to begin
- with, and you aren't selling them independently by themselves.
- See 1. above.
-
- 3. Are derivative works allowed?
- Yes!
-
- 4. Can I change or add to the font(s)?
- Yes, but you must change the name(s) of the font(s).
-
- 5. Under what terms are derivative works allowed?
-
- You must change the name(s) of the fonts. This is to ensure the
- quality of the fonts, both to protect Bitstream and Gnome. We want to
- ensure that if an application has opened a font specifically of these
- names, it gets what it expects (though of course, using fontconfig,
- substitutions could still could have occurred during font
- opening). You must include the Bitstream copyright. Additional
- copyrights can be added, as per copyright law. Happy Font Hacking!
-
- 6. If I have improvements for Bitstream Vera, is it possible they might get
- adopted in future versions?
-
- Yes. The contract between the Gnome Foundation and Bitstream has
- provisions for working with Bitstream to ensure quality additions to
- the Bitstream Vera font family. Please contact us if you have such
- additions. Note, that in general, we will want such additions for the
- entire family, not just a single font, and that you'll have to keep
- both Gnome and Jim Lyles, Vera's designer, happy! To make sense to add
- glyphs to the font, they must be stylistically in keeping with Vera's
- design. Vera cannot become a "ransom note" font. Jim Lyles will be
- providing a document describing the design elements used in Vera, as a
- guide and aid for people interested in contributing to Vera.
-
- 7. I want to sell a software package that uses these fonts: Can I do so?
-
- Sure. Bundle the fonts with your software and sell your software
- with the fonts. That is the intent of the copyright.
-
- 8. If applications have built the names "Bitstream Vera" into them,
- can I override this somehow to use fonts of my choosing?
-
- This depends on exact details of the software. Most open source
- systems and software (e.g., Gnome, KDE, etc.) are now converting to
- use fontconfig (see www.fontconfig.org) to handle font configuration,
- selection and substitution; it has provisions for overriding font
- names and subsituting alternatives. An example is provided by the
- supplied local.conf file, which chooses the family Bitstream Vera for
- "sans", "serif" and "monospace". Other software (e.g., the XFree86
- core server) has other mechanisms for font substitution.
-
-