We* use Berthold Akzidenz Grotesk as our house font for print, signage, etc. and Standard CT as a close approximation for Web Fonts. It's gotten a bit crazy how much time we have to spend kerning and tracking and pushing and pulling Akzidenz on a daily basis, especially as we continue to grow, add new designers, etc.
We've got the in-house skill and software to do a custom version that would address the kerning pairs, occasionally wonky tracking and some of the baffling character inconsistencies between weights. The time-savings and brand consistency we could get from an altered version is compelling. We would use it, but never sell it.
My question is, is this legal?
If not, how/who would we approach to get licensing to tackle this and how much would it hypothetically cost?
*I'm the Design Director for an in-house team handling print and web collateral (7 designers and devs, ~200 projects a month ranging from fliers and small print pieces to annual reports and a fairly expansive website). We're not huge, but we're not small, nor is the reach of our communications pieces, e.g. we're not exactly under the radar, and we always want to be above board legally in our dealings.
