GPL font exception
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Summary
The GPL font exception clause (or GPL+FE, for short) is an optional clause within the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL permitting fonts shared with that license to be embedded within a digital document file without requiring the document itself to also be shared with GPL. GPL+FE is comparable to other open source digital font licenses, such as the SIL Open Font License.
Origin
The font exception was authored in April 2005 by David "Novalis" Turner, a Free Software Foundation GPL compliance engineer. As he explains, "The situation we were considering was one where a font was embedded in a document (rather than merely referenced). Embedding allows a document to be viewed as the author intended it even on machines that don't have that font installed. So, the document (a copyrighted work) would be derived from the font program (another work). The text of the document, of course, would be unrestricted when distributed without the font."[1]
Usage
To indicate a font exception to the GPL, a digital font creator adds the following language to the end of the GPL text distributed with their font:
"As a special exception, if you create a document which uses this font, and embed this font or unaltered portions of this font into the document, this font does not by itself cause the resulting document to be covered by the GNU General Public License. This exception does not however invalidate any other reasons why the document might be covered by the GNU General Public License. If you modify this font, you may extend this exception to your version of the font, but you are not obligated to do so. If you do not wish to do so, delete this exception statement from your version."[2]
References
- ^ From "Font Licensing" by novalis (David Turner), first written 2005-04-25 (modified 2010-05-17) http://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/20050425novalis (accessed 2011-10-22)
- ^ From the "GPL FAQ" http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#FontException (accessed 2011-10-22)
- A summary of the issues with digital fonts and open source software is available elsewehere online here, http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Legal_considerations_for_fonts