GPL font exception: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 03:56, 9 April 2012

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The '''GPL font exception''' clause (or GPL+FE, for short) is an optional clause within the [[GNU General Public License]] (GNU GPL) permitting [[digital font]]s shared with that license to be embedded within a digital [[document]] [[computer file|file]] without requiring the document itself to also be shared with GPL. Without the clause, conflicts may arise with open source projects distributing digital fonts which may be used in desktop publishing.<ref>See "Legal Considerations for fonts" at the Fedora Project: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Legal_considerations_for_fonts#allow-embedding (accessed 2011-10-22)</ref> According to Terry Hancock, editor of [[Free Software Magazine]], "There are some other free font licenses, but the GPL with the font exemption is the simplest and most compatible."<ref>In "Choosing and Using Free Licenses for Software, Hardware, and Aesthetic works" by Terry Hancock in Free Software Magazine 2010-09-26: http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/columns/choosing_and_using_free_licenses_software_hardware_and_aesthetic_works (accessed 2011-10-22)</ref>

GPL+FE is a strategy for sharing [[open source]] digital fonts comparable to the [[SIL Open Font License]]. As explained by Dave Crossland in Libre Graphics Magazine, "A [[copyleft]] font may overreach into the documents that use it, unless an exception is made to the normal terms; an additional permission to allow people to combine parts of a font with a document without effecting the license of texts, photographs, illustrations and designs. Most libre fonts today have such a copyleft license – the SIL OFL or GNU GPL with the Font Exception described in the GPL FAQ."<ref>See "Copyleft Business" by Dave Crossland in Libre Graphics Magazine p.12-13, volume 1 issue 2, 2011: http://libregraphicsmag.com/files/libregraphicsmag_1.2_lowquality.pdf | http://libregraphicsmag.com/backissues.html Republished at http://understandingfonts.com/blog/2011/07/copyleft-business/ (accessed 2011:10-22)</ref>