You go to a place like MyFonts.com and you pay for the stuff!
Typophile is just about your worst bet for a piracy hub.

hhp

Sarah inquired...
"I know you can just go to these font sites and
download either for MAc or PC, but is there anything I
should know beforehand."

you get one of three things:
1) a poorly executed rip-off of someone's valiant
commercial effort
2) a poorly executed, uninformed, "original" design
3) one of those _very_ rare gems that might come in
handy for display work some day

I have yet to see a functional text font among these
ranks; maybe someone can show me otherwise. I'm
not sure where that whole Gentium project stands...

adendum to the above post:

in reference to my third list item, even those rare gems
require some very careful kerning. of course, that
comes with the use of most display type.

in reference to Gentium, my primary concern for text
setting is the lack of small caps and text numerals. it
doesn't appear that there have been any updates in
recent months, but here's a link to the site.
<http://www.sil.org/~gaultney/gentium/>

There are some pretty good quality fonts at the Lab (http://www.apostrophiclab.com). Apostrophe himself just uploaded a new text font, though it's only has Roman and Italic members right now.

Most of the Lab fonts are novelty, but there are a few text fonts.

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO No NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO. There is NO Free Font!!!!

is there - free book? free car? free house? free nike? free coca-cola? free pen?

SO WHY FREE FONT?


David Hamuel

Re: Gentium

Victor Gaultney spoke regarding Gentium at TypeCon last week. The project is still very much alive, and there are future plans to expand the family - time and resources willing.

"Does this group's membership actively support known
font pirates and routinely recommend their fonts?"

I assume you are referring to the Apostrophe
recommendation, which I can tell you we do not do
regularly. in fact, I was a little surprised someone was
daring enough to promote his work at all here!
however, I think the fonts on that site say all that
needs to be said about free fonts.

Sarah,

Take the above comments with a grain of salt. What you need to know is that a large percentage of the people here are in the business of selling type, and therefore are opposed in principle to the distribution of free fonts, whether legit or stolen.

And it's true that generally the for-profit fonts are better designed and more complete. But for amateurs and collectors, there is nothing at all wrong with seeking out free fonts. My only advice is to be careful in using the fonts in projects -- especially professional projects -- and only use those that are definitely freeware or that you have purchased.

> Does this group's membership actively support
> known font pirates and routinely recommend
> their fonts?

1) There isn't really a Policy.
2) Apostrophe has formally recanted.
3) I for one don't have a Hell that I send people to eternally.

hhp

> Want your country out of its bad economic state?

No, I want my country out of the clutches of American vulture megacorporations.

You see, if you equate piracy with the fight against global slavery (the US lifestyle), then I'm all for it! But it's not the same thing - it's better in some ways (nobody gets killed), worse in others (it doesn't help the right people).

--

> I was hoping that this list does not condone font piracy.

Font piracy is in fact the only think this forum doesn't seem to tolerate.
It even tolerates incorrigible capitalists! :-)

hhp

>the Lab is one popular source for them

The way I understand it, Fred Nader was taken to court by a number of foundries for making their fonts available on a "usenet". However, the free fonts on the apostrophiclab.com site are acceptably original. Is this correct? Is Fred Nader still a pirate?

The ethics of the type designer, the price, and the quality of fonts, are three separate issues. If you are looking for a free version of an established typeface, that's an unprofessional thing to do, for the reasons Joe mentioned. However, a font such as Fred Nader's free Republika appears to be original and good quality.

I've never discussed his court case, or his philosophy on copyright, with him, but Fred Nader did once mention that he was at the ATypI conference a few years ago when Book Antiqua was premiered, and Hermann Zapf walked out in disgust.

OK Joe, forget the Lab, let's start a petition to get Book Antiqua withdrawn. (Or did its publishers settle with Zapf?)

> Is Fred Nader still a pirate?

It seems that he's not. But one can't be certain that he truly does regret previously being one (as he says), especially since the foundries that came after him got nothing, and in fact lost a lot.

BTW, is it true that Fred was going to help organize the Toronto TypeCon, but he was strong-armed out?

> let's start a petition to get Book Antiqua withdrawn.

The timing is interesting! There's currently a [potentially momentous] discussion on the ATypI list about its role as an ethical lighthouse in the world of type, and how to correct past transgressions.

That said, some Famous Designers are protectionist to the point of mania.

hhp

>BTW, is it true that Fred was going to help organize the Toronto TypeCon, but he was strong-armed out?

SoTA does not use strong-arm tactics.

The local organizers from the start were Rod McDonald, myself (both already on the SoTA board), and Brian Maloney (Toronto Type Club)

I approached a number of Canadian type designers to speak, including Fred, but he declined (or never got back to me).

>discussion on the ATypI list

I didn't know about that.

> SoTA does not use strong-arm tactics.

But it might be susceptible to such from its sponsors.

Anyway, thanks for clarifying in public an issue you didn't seem to want to address in private. Normally it's the other way around.

hhp

Uh, now that we've settled the pirate question, how do we collectively feel about Adobe? I've not noticed a lot of use of the "A" word around here...

I ask because if you are a student, the Adobe "Classics for Learning" package, 400 fonts for $99, seems like a pretty good deal. And its legal.