Does using MS fonts for a watermark remove my rights to an image?

[Cowboy Bob]

This topic was imported from the Typophile platform

Hello!

I have begun putting watermarks on images because of rampant theft on the Internet. (Paint.Net is good for this, and free.) Someone warned me not to use MS fonts or I'll lose my rights to the images. From what I've read, that does not sound possible. What do you think of this comment?

"Do not watermark using Microsoft’s “free” fonts, at that conveys maximum legal copyright in the “derived works” to them."

If that's true, then I'll need to find something plain and simple to substitute for Arial.

[hrant]

Let me guess, you heard that from a Linux guy.

hhp

[quadibloc]

That certainly does sound weird, as using Monotype fonts in books hasn't put their authors' and publishers' rights in danger.

However, Microsoft Windows is sold to people for home and office use, not as an instrument of publishing, and the possibility of some weird stuff in the licence agreement can't be totally eliminated.

It is just recently in the news that some of the services competing with Flickr (but not Flickr itself!) are now arrogating to themselves rights to the images they host.

[russellm]

I'm sure it won't come as a surprise to anyone, but MS Windows is also sold to major corporations and is loaded with the same fonts under the same EULAs as everyone else and they publish tons and tons of material using the same software and fonts. I don't believe it can possibly be an issue.

uh... <\:o)

in case that sounds snarky.

The new terms of use agreement that Instagram released are to bring them into harmony with their new owners, Facebook - by permitting advertisers to access to your images for the purpose of selectively placing ads next to them and using the meta data to target you and you friends with crap they think is relevant to what would appear to be your interests based on what you post. The advertisers Instagram really do not want our pictures of our kittens.

[ahyangyi]

Forget it. Using fonts like Arial is certainly safe.

On the other hand, GPL without the font exception is NOT.

[Té Rowan]

@Cowboy Bob – I find this hard to believe, but you could always grab, say, the Liberation fonts and use them instead. Their usage is not limited by their licence (the Open Font License in the version 2 fonts, GPL with font embedding exception in the version 1 fonts).

[hrant]

Resorting to something like Liberation is exactly what the opportunistic fear-mongers want you to do. Do not give up on quality.

hhp

[Té Rowan]

You do know, @hrant, that Liberation originates from a professional foundry?

[hrant]

Which is why I said "something like".

Why would you suggest the avoidance of MS fonts in this case? I don't think even Matteson himself would.

hhp

[Cowboy Bob]

I downloaded the Liberation fonts, thanks for the suggestion, and they look good at first glance. The license seems pretty straightforward, use them and don't try to sell them under another name as your own, and things like that.

For the other comments, yes, I think that it's silly for the guy to have told me that I'd lose rights to my photos for using MS fonts. Especially Arial.

[aluminum]

Copyright law has nothing to do with watermarks, let alone the fonts used to make them.

[Té Rowan]

@hrant – Why not? I haven't read the EULA governing Arial for a long while and therefore cannot remember with any certainty what it says about usage. I do know, however, that OSI-approved licences do not limit usage. Exactly why did you think Mr. Impallari always says: "When in doubt, pick something OFL'd"?

[Té Rowan]

...baka post form...

[Té Rowan]

...stupid double post...

[hrant]

The more you believe in something the more other worthy things get sacrificed. You end up saying things you don't really mean, sometimes without even realizing you don't mean them. You want so badly to convince others that you convince yourself first.

Doubt? If you let agenda-driven svengalis implant doubt into your brain where there shouldn't be any, you're their peon. When you waste time on unnecessary actions, you've lost something; not doing something can be a result of an honorable principle.

hhp

[Té Rowan]

@Cowboy Bob – Remembered while looking through some stuff... There's a recent set named Source Sans Pro from a bunch of blokes that have been in the digital font business for so long that they probably began by drawing glyphs on cave walls with their fingers.

[quadibloc]

@hrant:
When you waste time on unnecessary actions, you've lost something; not doing something can be a result of an honorable principle.

Not being prepared for the possibility that they may be out to get you is just what they want.

[Cowboy Bob]

I downloaded Source Sans Pro, and they remind me of some fonts that I used long ago when I used a phototypesetter in the mid 1980s. Looks good.

Thanks for the information. Although I agree that it's silly to believe I'd lose the rights to my pictures because I used an MS font on them, I got some new fonts that I like out of all this. Thanks!

[hrant]

Source Sans Pro from a bunch of blokes that have been in the digital font business for so long that ....

Actually Paul is a relative newbie. But he certainly is good.

hhp