Question regarding fonts

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blocky_games_studio
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2021 4:25 am

Question regarding fonts

Post by blocky_games_studio »

Is it acceptable to use the Nintendo font in competition entries? I could make original font if needed, but I feel the NES font is iconic and it appears to be used by a number of third-party games.
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dougeff
Posts: 3079
Joined: Fri May 08, 2015 7:17 pm

Re: Question regarding fonts

Post by dougeff »

"Bitmapped fonts are considered to be computerized representations of a typeface (and are not protected by copyright law)."

https://www.crowdspring.com/blog/font-law-licensing/
nesdoug.com -- blog/tutorial on programming for the NES
tepples
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Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 11:12 pm
Location: NE Indiana, USA (NTSC)
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Re: Question regarding fonts

Post by tepples »

The 8x8-pixel font found in a lot of early NES games, such as Balloon Fight and Hudson Soft's port of Lode Runner, is ripped from the arcade games Quiz Show and Sprint 2 by Atari anyway.

Image
A pile of 8x8-pixel fonts that I've collected over the years, mostly ripped from games


The one thing I'd caution against is doing anything that could cause a consumer to confuse your project with something licensed, such as putting a studio name in bold text in a flattened oval shape. That'd be a violation of trademark law, which is distinct from copyright law.
blocky_games_studio
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Feb 05, 2021 4:25 am

Re: Question regarding fonts

Post by blocky_games_studio »

Thanks. I probably won't enter the main competition and not sure if I'll be done with my current project in time for multicart, but I'll know if I enter the next one.
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