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

[Steve Kinney <admin pilobilus net>]

On 12/30/2011 04:14 PM, Ofnuts wrote:
> On 12/29/2011 01:59 PM, Alina Laue wrote:
> > Hi GIMP! 
> >
> > I have a problem, and i think your the only ones who can give me
> > the right answer... 
> > -Everybody telling me it's legally and free to download brushes
> > from the internet. (example
> > : http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/applications/gimpbrushes/ ) 
> > Maybe it's just because i'm  a kind of 'new in GIMP', that I find
> > it suspecius? 
>
> There are also free fonts that you can use without guilt (see
> dafont.com, in particular).
>
> Just enjoy

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.