[RndTbl] is a font free?

[Adam Thompson]

On 2016-02-13 07:52 PM, Trevor Cordes wrote:
> Is there a way to tell if a font is free?  A designer gave me some fonts
> that their web page should use (css font-face src) but I have no idea if
> these files are free or not.
>
> One of the fonts is Myriad Pro Regular.  From the net I can see it's easy
> to download, but that doesn't mean anything.  Wikipedia says it's included
> with Adobe stuff, but that doesn't mean it's free.
>
> a) Does anyone know if this font is free for anyone to embed in their web
> site?
>
> b) Is there a generic way to tell if a font is free or not?
>
> c) Does anyone care?  (My use scenario puts it on an important (read:
> sue-able) enterprise web site, so I may have to care a bit more than Joe
> Shmoe might.)

Short answers:

1. no, it's not free, and no, you can't put it on a website.

2. no, there's no generic way.  It depends 100% on how and where and 
under what terms the font was acquired.  You could have two customers 
hand you the same .TTF file, but one can use it legally on their 
website, and the other can only use it legally in print material.

3. Yes, Adobe cares quite a bit.  How and when (and if) it would be 
brought to their attention, who knows.  But you're definitely incurring 
financial & legal risk.

Have a read specifically about Myriad Pro here: 
http://www.krolldesign.net/tech/css/myriad_font.php.

If it absolutely HAS to be Myriad Pro, go license it at TypeKit for web 
use.  Otherwise, I don't see ANY licensing options that allow you to use 
it on the web.  There is a free tier at TypeKit, but Myriad Pro is only 
included with the US$50/year Portfolio license.

If you have a lot of clients using Adobe-licensed fonts, the TypeKit 
Portfolio subscription is a pretty decent deal.  Buying, e.g. Myriad 
Pro, for unlimited web use, would probably run around US$3000 based on 
what similar fonts cost.


-Adam

-- 
-Adam Thompson
  athompso at athompso.net
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