Path: utzoo!utgpu!utstat!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!ucsd!rutgers!elbereth.rutgers.edu!bschwart From: bschwart@elbereth.rutgers.edu (Barry Schwartz) Newsgroups: comp.fonts Subject: Re: HP LaserJet Downloadable Fonts Message-ID: Date: 31 Mar 89 06:58:50 GMT References: <1736@trantor.harris-atd.com> <229800002@uxe.cso.uiuc.edu> <96281@sun.Eng.Sun.COM> <709@adobe.UUCP> Organization: Rutgers Center for DSP Research, Piscataway, NJ Lines: 23 > If you use a font program to print a character, the toner on paper is > no longer copyrighted, just the program that got it there. You can > derive work from the toner on paper if you like, but not from the > program. Repetition of disclaimer: I believe there is a need for protection, but do not accept (or reject) the current system just because it is there. That said, I think it is important to point out that in some sense the toner and the bitmaps are isomorphic, one-to-one (and onto, I know, I know). > Suppose someone write a program that converts a program in one format > (C source code) into another format (binary executable), then runs a > protected program through it. Can you use the executable freely? No. > Just because you write your own compiler does not give you the right to > use somebody else's copyrighted source code. Very interesting that you use this analogy. Suppose I run some font designer's bitmaps through a Hewlett-Packard LaserJet II bitmap-to-toner translator, then claim the output as my own. Can I do that?