2010-09-09, 15:37
Isn't a 'commercial product' one that's sold?
So XBMC isn't a commercial product.
So XBMC isn't a commercial product.
2010-09-09, 16:03
I believe Hitcher is right.
Also, Jeroen makes a good point. If the skin was on the repo and the fonts downloaded from a site of the designers choosing, no harm no foul.
Also, Jeroen makes a good point. If the skin was on the repo and the fonts downloaded from a site of the designers choosing, no harm no foul.
2010-09-13, 05:46
Hitcher Wrote:I don't think you can use Open Type fonts on XBMC.
You can use OTF fonts - you just rename the file extension to .ttf and it works fine.
2010-09-14, 08:12
I would recommend The League of Movable Type. They are a great group.
You'll find way more (including some from the source above) at Smashing Magazine which I really like too, here's an article there with 40 listed fonts. You might be interested in Dupont Circle, Geo Sans, Mank Sans, or Cicle, they're kinda 'Shade- like' :p.
Hope the info can help you or someone else in need of free font options.
You'll find way more (including some from the source above) at Smashing Magazine which I really like too, here's an article there with 40 listed fonts. You might be interested in Dupont Circle, Geo Sans, Mank Sans, or Cicle, they're kinda 'Shade- like' :p.
Hope the info can help you or someone else in need of free font options.
2010-09-14, 15:47
DuMbGuM Wrote:I would recommend The League of Movable Type. They are a great group.
You'll find way more (including some from the source above) at Smashing Magazine which I really like too, here's an article there with 40 listed fonts. You might be interested in Dupont Circle, Geo Sans, Mank Sans, or Cicle, they're kinda 'Shade- like' :p.
Hope the info can help you or someone else in need of free font options.
Nice site, thanks.
2010-09-15, 02:04
The absence of any license by default means you cannot use it.
The presence of a license still makes it copyrighted, but sets out the conditions under which you may use it, or in some cases, distribute it.
'Commercial Software' does not have to have a price associated with it.
XBMC would in many courts be considered commercial. It's not a black and white area, but Open Source / Free Libre does not equate to 'non commercial'.
The legal argument to suggest XBMC is commercial is that it's clearly not for personal / private use by an individual, and that within it's own license terms it's allowed to be sold and used for profit / commercially. This makes it a commercial commodity, and essentially commercial software (I know the law IS confusing!).
Now if I write some software and tell you that you can use it for yourself, but you can't sell it, and you need my permission, then that could reasonably be interpreted as non-commercial.
But XBMC is openly given away and the licence allows for commercial usage, thus designating itself as a potentially commercial piece of software.
Anyway, the best option is to ONLY use fonts with an explicit license stating it's free for commercial use (use = create a raster image from the font), unrestricted distribution (actually distributing the font file), and unrestricted usage (no clauses about association with certain types of product e.g, the don't mind you associating the font with nude women etc).
Please make note: 'Free for commercial use' does NOT mean you can redistribute the font.
Finally, you must be very certain the people offering you license to use the font are the actual owners of the font (and THIS is where lots of 'free' websites are dangerous).
Many of those sites have fonts created by users, and the checks are limited. They usually have a caveat absolving them of any guarantee of authenticity.
That's how the big font foundries make their money. The Adobes and Linotypes of this world are considered highly reputable and you pay a licence fee for their use.
90% of the time, you should be safe with the free websites, providing they come with a legitimate looking license, and if there was a problem, the chances are you'd just receive a notification to cease and desist. But you COULD be sued if you were very unlucky.
It's a total pain in the ass.
There's a really interesting bit of side information....
Most advertising agencies produce artwork, and send the appropriate font files to the print house for printing etc, but it's technically illegal (in many cases) to be sending those font files to the print house. It's a generally accepted practice but still illegal.
The presence of a license still makes it copyrighted, but sets out the conditions under which you may use it, or in some cases, distribute it.
'Commercial Software' does not have to have a price associated with it.
XBMC would in many courts be considered commercial. It's not a black and white area, but Open Source / Free Libre does not equate to 'non commercial'.
The legal argument to suggest XBMC is commercial is that it's clearly not for personal / private use by an individual, and that within it's own license terms it's allowed to be sold and used for profit / commercially. This makes it a commercial commodity, and essentially commercial software (I know the law IS confusing!).
Now if I write some software and tell you that you can use it for yourself, but you can't sell it, and you need my permission, then that could reasonably be interpreted as non-commercial.
But XBMC is openly given away and the licence allows for commercial usage, thus designating itself as a potentially commercial piece of software.
Anyway, the best option is to ONLY use fonts with an explicit license stating it's free for commercial use (use = create a raster image from the font), unrestricted distribution (actually distributing the font file), and unrestricted usage (no clauses about association with certain types of product e.g, the don't mind you associating the font with nude women etc).
Please make note: 'Free for commercial use' does NOT mean you can redistribute the font.
Finally, you must be very certain the people offering you license to use the font are the actual owners of the font (and THIS is where lots of 'free' websites are dangerous).
Many of those sites have fonts created by users, and the checks are limited. They usually have a caveat absolving them of any guarantee of authenticity.
That's how the big font foundries make their money. The Adobes and Linotypes of this world are considered highly reputable and you pay a licence fee for their use.
90% of the time, you should be safe with the free websites, providing they come with a legitimate looking license, and if there was a problem, the chances are you'd just receive a notification to cease and desist. But you COULD be sued if you were very unlucky.
It's a total pain in the ass.
There's a really interesting bit of side information....
Most advertising agencies produce artwork, and send the appropriate font files to the print house for printing etc, but it's technically illegal (in many cases) to be sending those font files to the print house. It's a generally accepted practice but still illegal.
2010-09-15, 02:08
US Government's definition of commercial software:
Any item, other than real property, that is of a type customarily used by the general public or by non-governmental entities for purposes other than governmental purposes, and (i) Has been sold, leased, or licensed to the general public; or (ii) Has been offered for sale, lease, or license to the general public..
Any item, other than real property, that is of a type customarily used by the general public or by non-governmental entities for purposes other than governmental purposes, and (i) Has been sold, leased, or licensed to the general public; or (ii) Has been offered for sale, lease, or license to the general public..
2010-12-28, 15:11
Jeroen Wrote:You also got me thinking about a different possibility. Would it be possible to download the fonts from an external location (so outside of XBMC's ecosystem) when or after a skin is installed through an addon? So basically like the <required> tag (or something like that) in the addon.xml?What if a skin were to include an option to download the fonts via it's settings?
So the skin would be downloadable through XBMC's repo without fonts, and the fonts are downloaded from elsewhere?
I understand this would not change anything regarding the license, but it would at least not be a concern to the XBMC organisation.
That way we could code the skin to use a standard font (eg arial) and simply use a script to download the intended fonts after the skin has been installed from the official repo.
Opinions?
2010-12-28, 18:54
thats a good idea hitcher bet they wont go for it tho
2010-12-28, 20:00
If they're not actually hosted on the official repo what's the difference between downloading them via the skin and posting a download link to these forums?
2010-12-29, 00:03
2010-12-30, 19:07
Hitcher Wrote:If they're not actually hosted on the official repo what's the difference between downloading them via the skin and posting a download link to these forums?
Any devs care to comment please?
2010-12-30, 19:48
good point hitcher i would like to see what the devs say about it
2010-12-30, 20:06
Another free font site I use a lot is Font Squirrel. They have a wide variety of great looking fonts available that are commercial use free fonts. Meaning you may include the font free of charge provided the license file is included.
