Send me your fonts!

[Jayhawkmike]

I haven't had to visit this topic in a while, but I had a client package up their Indesign files and refuse to include their fonts along with. They were not Adobe Typekit fonts I could sync up in the cloud. They had a mixture of different foundrys. Their argument was compelling and provided me with the "legal" agreement we all click through when we purchase such things. It clearly says I need to buy it. I always thought that your printer was the extension of your use and such you could send your fonts to folks like me to produce your work.

My work-around was to refuse their InDesign documents and insist on them providing a print ready PDF, so problem solved but have any of you all run into this recently? Have the rules changed?

 

[dabob]

Well . . . you could point out that Adobe (the big dog in the font business) put the collect fonts there for a reason, alternatively, you could also revise your price so that the customer would have to pay for you to purchase the fonts . . . but I've been doing this stuff since 1992 and have never once heard of a service provider or "customer" get sued or prosecuted for using a customer's font on the customers job.

that being said the vendor, you, should never ever use their fonts for your work . . . . that is a violation of the license agreement . . .

 

[Dov Isaacs]

Unfortunately, your “understanding” that “your printer was the extension of our use and (as) such you could send your fonts to folks like me to produce your work” is absolutely wrong!! Whereas the license agreement of some font foundries allow this, most absolutely don't. At best they allow you to send the fonts if the printer has their own license to the fonts – this being a way of making sure that the printer uses the same version of the font used for layout. And by the way, this is nothing new although many printers simply ignore the licensing restrictions because it is difficult for the font vendors to readily enforce.

This and any number of issues is why you want to receive print-ready PDF files, preferably complying with the PDF/X-4 specification.

- Dov

 

[dabob]

Unfortunately, your “understanding” that “your printer was the extension of our use and (as) such you could send your fonts to folks like me to produce your work” is absolutely wrong!! Whereas the license agreement of some font foundries allow this, most absolutely don't. At best they allow you to send the fonts if the printer has their own license to the fonts – this being a way of making sure that the printer uses the same version of the font used for layout. And by the way, this is nothing new although many printers simply ignore the licensing restrictions because it is difficult for the font vendors to readily enforce.

This and any number of issues is why you want to receive print-ready PDF files, preferably complying with the PDF/X-4 specification.

- Dov

Well, I stand corrected. these days we do receive 95% or more print ready pdfs . . . but 20 years ago there was no PDF workflow . . . so I guess that kinda dates me . . . .

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

The only time I ever have to receive someone's packaged raw files is when they have no idea how to prep the file for proper booklet making or something akin to that. I share with them my InDesign export settings that work best with my press, but it is only once is a great while that I'll have to jump into someone else's .indd file and install their fonts.

 

[Jayhawkmike]

I too have been doing this for 20+ years. We are probably 75% PDF file supplied but perhaps we have more "design" interaction with documents as we do complicated boxes, folders, mailing items that need adjustments from the client's original design. They need help, we provide it. We work with them and use the InDesign / Illustrator files more then some folks do I guess.

OK, I stand corrected and was going on an incorrect assumption. We have purchased the entire Adobe font library (pre-creative cloud type kit) a few years back. Don't want the Font Gestapo at my door. I'll change my ways and purchase those fonts not licensed to me already.

Thanks for the input you all!

 

[Possumgal]

One place where I used to work would load the customer's fonts for a job, then delete them from the system when done. Not exactly kosher, but it gets the job done and the keeps the Font Gestapo away.