Skip to main content
_
_chad_pfarr_
Participant
September 5, 2008
Question

Video game License restrictions

  • September 5, 2008
  • 4 replies
  • 1968 views
Hello there, I am trying to find out the restrictions for Adobe fonts displayed in commercial video games. Specifically, I am looking to use converted bitmap images to display text on screen and not including the true type or open type format directly on the given platform.
Does anyone have any experience with this?
Will the standard purchase agreement from Adobe grant this type of usage?

Thanks,
Chad Pfarr
    This topic has been closed for replies.

    4 replies

    _
    _chad_pfarr_Author
    Participant
    September 8, 2008
    Thanks for the input, I have found that each foundry has very different usage guidelines and that half of them need a separate license when used with generated type (as in having a virtual keyboard that allows for a user to type in a string)from a bitmap array. Does anybody know if there are overarching legal guidelines for the type industry?
    -chad
    Dov Isaacs
    Dov Isaacs
    Legend
    September 8, 2008
    For better or for worse, there are no such "overarching legal guidelines" for the type industry as a whole except that you need to read the licenses for any and each font foundry and in many cases, each font from same to ascertain that you are in compliance with the terms thereof.

    In the case of all fonts licensed from Adobe, you are certainly OK in using those fonts as you described.

    - Dov
    - Dov Isaacs, former Adobe Principal Scientist (April 30, 1990 - May 30, 2021)
    _
    _Aandi_Inston_
    Participating Frequently
    September 8, 2008
    I think it would be shaky ground if the bitmap images were single
    characters and painted a character at a time as if they were a font:
    to me this sounds like a converted font.

    If the fonts are pre-used to make text to form part of images, that
    would be quite different.

    Aandi Inston
    T
    Thomas Phinney
    Inspiring
    September 6, 2008
    Yes, that usage would be fine under the standard Adobe font EULA.

    T
    N
    Neil_Keller
    Known Participant
    September 5, 2008
    chad,

    I'm not an attorney and I don't have a copy of typical font licenses from Adobe (and there are different versions). But I believe that I would not be too far off in saying that if you use an image of the characters, or embed the characters in such a way that they cannot be extracted or repurposed (much like an Acrobat document), you'd be OK.

    Neil
    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
    Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices