Aquilina, who was talking typically and never on the specifics of the anti-piracy marketing campaign and its font use, stated that utilizing a font from a free supply, with an “successfully implied license to make use of it,” may very well be “a very good protection,” although “not an entire protection.” Usually, a rightsholder would go after web sites distributing copies of their font, not after customers of the top product.

Fonts used commercially that occur to be precise copies of present and copyrighted fonts are “pretty widespread,” Aquilina stated, “merely due to the recognition of sure fonts and a want to make use of them, to create a sure aesthetic.” However, he stated, there’s “a really small share that may very well be, or are, litigated.” Even with software program licenses at problem, a kind foundry faces an uphill battle, as witnessed in the battle over Shake Shack’s typography (paywalled).

Nonetheless lacking: the supply of XBand Tough

A number of glyphs from FF Confidential, the font that was not used on some anti-piracy supplies, even when it positive regarded like that.

So the place did Xband Tough come from?

The styling of the font identify, “XBAND Tough” with the primary noun in all-caps, calls to thoughts the early online gaming network XBAND, launched in 1994 and discontinued in 1997. In some XBand packages, the same “tough” fashion might be seen on the lettering. The PDF sleuth, Rib, noted that XBAND Tough “got here out 4 years after the unique” (about 1996) and was “near-identical, aside from the value.”

One other Bluesky person suggests “a believable rationalization” for the font, suggesting that Xband could have licensed FF Confidential after which given it the interior identify “Xband Tough.” A replica of the font with that identify might have been extracted from some Xband materials after which “began floating across the Web uncredited.” In the long run, although, the actual reply is unclear.

We contacted the Movement Image Affiliation (now simply the MPA, sans “of America”), however they declined to remark.

The unique “You Would not Steal a Automotive” marketing campaign was easy to the purpose of being simplistic. IP regulation is not actually like “stealing a automotive” in lots of circumstances—as has made clearly as soon as once more by the latest Xband Tough investigation.