一些懷古的點陣字型

前幾天在 Hacker News 上看到的懷古字型:「The Ultimate Oldschool PC Font Pack」,在「FONT INDEX」這頁裡面有很多字型的圖片可以看。

比較有趣的是在「README」這頁提到的版權問題,點陣字體在美國是無法被版權化的:

Q. Is this even legal? The original fonts are not yours. Do you have the right to distribute these versions?

A. Short answer: as far as I was able to research, there is nothing illegal or infringing about this collection. The raw bitmap typefaces are not copyrightable, unlike fonts in specific formats such as .fon and TrueType (which qualify as software); at least this is the case in the US, where this site is based. For a longer and far more boring answer, see the legal stuff section below.

這點可以在維基百科上的「Intellectual property protection of typefaces」這篇看到對應的說明:

Typefaces cannot be protected by copyright in the United States (Code of Federal Regulations, Ch 37, Sec. 202.1(e); Eltra Corp. vs. Ringer). The idea that typefaces (rather than fonts, which are computer software) cannot be copyrighted in the United States is black letter law. 37 C.F.R. § 202.1(e). Under U.S. law, typefaces and their letter forms or glyphs are considered utilitarian objects whose public utility outweighs any private interest in protecting their creative elements. However, there is a distinction between a font and a typeface. The machine code used to display a stylized typeface (called a font) is protectable as copyright. In 1992, the US Copyright Office determined that digital outline fonts had elements that could be protected as software. Since that time, the Office has accepted registration of copyright for digital vector fonts, such as PostScript Type 1, TrueType, and OpenType format files.

有不少字型有提供 8x16 的大小,看起來之後還是可以找機會用看看?應該有機會搭 16px 的中文字...

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