Re: [Gimp-user] Copyright and brushes, fonts - was "Help"

["Joe Frazier, Jr." <jfrazierjr nc rr com>]

On 12/30/2011 07:37 PM, Steve Kinney wrote:
> On 12/30/2011 04:14 PM, Ofnuts wrote:
>
> Hai guise,
>
> Beware of "free download" fonts.  A lot of the fonts on the big
> sites are under "all rights reserved" copyright.  I once had an
> employer who was a "font Nazi":  He insisted on documenting the
> terms of use on every font installed on every machine in the shop,
> because a couple of years earlier he was raided by the BSA and had
> to pay a couple of thousand dollars to get out from under them.  All
> the software in the shop was "legal" but many of the fonts on the
> machines were not.
>
> That does not mean "never download a font."  But it is a very good
> idea to check the copyright and terms of use on every font you do
> download.  This is often spelled out in a text file that comes in a
> zip file with the font.  In other cases it may be necessary to hunt
> down the author's website, if any.
>
> I don't have the links handy but if you add the terms +gpl and
> "creative commons" (with the quotes) when you search for font
> sources, what you find will mostly be easy to verify as free for all
> personal and commercial uses.
>
> If you want a whole bunch of brushes for the GIMP, here's the set I
> am using now:
>
> http://pilobilus.net/xfer/brushes.zip
>
> That's a 5 MB file, with the full standard GIMP brush set, plus
> nearly all of the extra brushes I have picked up over the years.
> There are a couple of "readme" text files in the archive, read them
> for terms and conditions on a few of the brushes in the collection
> (the author of one set wants you to mention his name when they are
> used).  The rest I will not "warrant" as free of copyright
> encumberances, but I will say that I was careful to check when I was
> acquiring them and "odds are" you will have no problems.
>
> Especially since the BSA does not know what the GIMP is or what the
> .gbr file extension means.
>
> :o)
>
> Steve
>
> BTW I will leave the archive up on my site for a week or so.
>
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On another side note, while the whole "tagging" resources in 2.8 is a 
step in the correct direction, I STILL think the best long term 
direction for GIMP resource management would be a folder/subfolder 
approach.     Personally, I use GURM( 
http://registry.gimp.org/node/13473) to manage my resources(brushes, 
patterns, etc) since it allows me to keep resources in their own folder 
AND any license information stays with the resource(some people have 
even put their license information as a .png to make it easier to say 
inside of GIMP and still view the license).

Side note two: typically creators of artwork always retain copyright, 
but LICENSE the use of the artwork for specific uses.  In general, you 
as a use NEVER get copyright to something, but are granted License to 
use that something for some purpose or another.   I do some work on the 
CartographersGuild, and while there are many map making brushes 
available you have to be very carefl, because some brushes may "free", 
but their license may or may not allow commercial use.   Ie, one brush 
pack I might only be allowed to use for personal stuff only(but I can't 
do any commissioned work with these), while different brush pack may 
allow just about any use (including being used in commercial work) as 
long as I credit the source.    In other words, just carefully read the 
license, abide by the terms, and don't assume any "freedom" in use of 
the resources beyond what the license explicitly states.