General Question

zensky's avatar

A question about fonts and copyrights.

Asked by zensky (13418points) February 13th, 2012

The amazing Helen Keller had a unique signature seen here.

If one were so inclined, could one create a font based on her unique penmanship and claim the copyright for himself?

Bearing in mind that from her John Hancock only seven letters are actually used, thus the graphic designer would have to create 19 more himself.

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7 Answers

SpatzieLover's avatar

I don’t see how anyone could own their own handwriting/font unless it was copyrighted.

Considering at least 19 more characters would need to be created, I’d say this falls into the category of artistic license

SpatzieLover (24609points)“Great Answer” (1points) Flag as…
Vincentt's avatar

In the US, fonts are not copyrightable, so if you live there, go ahead :) (Take care of specific rules mentiond at that link though.)

Vincentt (8094points)“Great Answer” (2points) Flag as…
zensky's avatar

Good catch @YoBob – someone’s selling it for 20 bucks.

zensky (13418points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
robmandu's avatar

In the USA, typefaces are not copyrightable and bitmapped fonts are not copyrightable, however, scalable fonts are copyrightable (also explained in @Vincentt‘s wiki link).

robmandu (21331points)“Great Answer” (3points) Flag as…
Dutchess_III's avatar

That’s an amazing feat, that signature!

Dutchess_III (47069points)“Great Answer” (1points) Flag as…
linguaphile's avatar

The signature was made with a guide like this—that’s what causes the unique shaping of letters.

linguaphile (14574points)“Great Answer” (2points) Flag as…

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