NBC Sued Over Fonts!
Really?!
NBC is being sued by the Font Bureau, one of the country's most prestigious typographical design firms!
Who knew that even existed?!
Supposedly, the company, who designed typefaces for the likes of Apple, Microsoft and The New York Times, is accusing the network of illegally using trademarked fonts that they did not pay for!
And to make matters worse, they are included in NBC's fall marketing campaign for The Jay Leno Show, Saturday Night Live and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
Oops!
The trademark and copyright infringement suit was filed on Tuesday and the Font Bureau claims that NBC only paid for a single license, but copied other fonts to several computers within the company.
And they say that's worth $2 million!
That better be some pretty impressive lettering!
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No pixels on a screen should ever be worth $2mil
its called intellectual property morons, someone creative, somewhere took the time to develop those fonts and they should be compensated, its irrelevant what YOU think they're worth
I love FONTS so im totally on the side of the font bureau
Looks likes somebody doesn't know what the fuck their talking about. Have you ever heard of copy right law. It doesn't matter what its worth, and the fact that you base your argument on a guy who writes a blog is not valid. He's not making money off the art work he features, he's just talking about other people art not using it to create a profit.
Fonts take a long time to develop. It can takes months and even years to develop a proper font. Think about it, there are 100+ characters in a BASIC font without weights or italics. Each letter has to be perfectly crafted to match the next. On top of that, perfect spacing is made along with individual kerning pairs. Kerning pairs are letters that have to have spaces designed individually for those two specific letters.
There are also measurements that have to be exact.
On TOP of letters, there are also numbers and punctuation.
Making a perfect font is just like creating a perfect anything else. It's hard to do and isn't ANY easier. Maybe even harder. It's no different from creating a purse, an show idea or a painting. It's not easy to create something that works well. It's a lot of work folks! It's also very personal!
Oh, there is a design agency going to be in BIG trouble!
Actually $2 mill for type design is not as bad as it could be. Think of all the applications in print and electronic. All the letterhead, ads, every ad, every on-air bumper, every affiliate station, every billboard. I'd love to be the attorney on this one.
Wow! I can't stand NBC any way. Serves them right.
NBC proud as a peacock……I mean pigeon.
I better get a patent on my handwriting before someone else does and I have to pay someone every time I sign my name. NBC Has been using the same font for how many years? And now they are getting sued. Sounds like Font Bureau may need some cash and are looking deep to find ways to get it. I don't doubt they may have created the font, but why did it take them so long to file a lawsuit.
"Who knew that even existed?!"
Don't be so ignorant.
There is no doubt quality work takes time but the software tools makes things more efficient.
The BS part of it in my opinion is that the font was licensed. The real money is made in the licensing not the design. This is very bad publicity for the Font Bureau, pretty sure other customers will be very cautious when working with them.
If you don't understand why NBC is getting sued, become a graphic designer, then you'll understand why. Till then, shut the fuck up because you don't know understand out industry.
I suspect the monetary amount is more in keeping with what the offending party is worth. The financial judgement is likely meant as a punishment as much as a recompense. And despite what you copyright-ignorant pusbags think, you cannot just go around helping yourselves to anything and everything you see. What the fuck is it with the sense of entitlement?
Fonts take a lot of work to create, I should know I've attempted to make some, so kudos to the Font Bureau for not effing around.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
it would be funny if NBC just quit using fonts and closed up.
TV would then be worth watching.
girlgirl is right. I'm a layout artist and I also work on fonts and most people have no idea how much work goes into designing even basic things, let alone fonts. NBC isn't being sued over the font in their logo, they're being sued because of fonts they started to use this season. Perez apparently didn't dumb the story down enough for some people.