Many companies have received negotiation or demand letters from font companies, alleging unauthorized use of their fonts in social media, websites, brochures, and other commercial promotional materials. These letters often demand that the company purchase a license to avoid infringement liability. Font rights holders typically send such letters selectively after identifying certain usage patterns. Upon receiving such letters, companies should take them seriously, conduct internal investigations promptly, and choose appropriate solutions to avoid potential legal disputes and counteract "coercive transactions." Additionally, companies should opt for safe fonts in their daily promotions to avoid unauthorized use of third-party fonts. Based on years of experience handling related cases for numerous domestic and international companies, we have analyzed and summarized the following points.

How to Respond to Letters from Font Companies

1. Verify the Basis of Rights and Identity of the Sender

Upon receiving a negotiation or demand letter, a company should first confirm whether the font company holds the copyright it claims, including the software copyright for the font library and the artistic work copyright for individual characters. If the sender is not the direct copyright holder, the completeness and credibility of their authorization chain need to be verified. Typically, documents proving the basis of font rights include:

• Copyright Registration Certificate: Mainstream opinion holds that fonts with originality and aesthetic appeal, distinct from known fonts, are protected by copyright law. Font designers can apply for copyright registration with relevant authorities to obtain a copyright registration certificate. However, since copyright registration only involves a formal review, further analysis and judgment are required to determine the originality and aesthetic appeal of the font.
• Font Creation Agreement and Design Completion Draft: If the font design was completed by a designer commissioned by a font company, the relevant agreements and completion drafts are important legal documents. These documents usually specify key issues such as the ownership and usage rights of the copyright. For example, the agreement may contain specific terms describing the transfer or licensing of rights between the designer and the font company, thereby clarifying the basis of the font company's rights.
• Other Related Creation Documents: Apart from formal certificates or agreements, design sketches, creation log summaries, etc., can also partially prove the font creation process.
• Authorization Chain Documents: If the sender is not the direct copyright holder but has obtained usage or enforcement rights through authorization, the completeness and legality of their authorization chain need to be verified. This involves checking authorization agreements, re-authorization documents, etc., to ensure that each link in the authorization chain is legally valid.

Through these steps, a company can fully verify the sender's rights basis and identity, ensuring sufficient legal grounds and negotiation leverage when responding to font copyright challenges.

2. Confirm the Nature of the Alleged Infringing Use

Verify the Source of Alleged Infringing Fonts: Font companies usually specify the suspected infringing use of fonts in their letters, such as specific articles on public accounts or sections of a company website. Upon receiving such letters, the company should immediately verify whether the alleged usage is accurate, for example:

• Confirm the Publishing Entity: First, confirm whether the content on the public account, website, etc., was published by the company.
• Determine the Content Source: Verify whether the relevant content was created by the company, republished, or designed by a third-party supplier.

Preserve Evidence: During verification, save all relevant evidence, including screenshots, log records, contracts, etc., for future use.

• Verify Authorization: If it is confirmed that the company’s accounts or promotional materials did use the relevant fonts, further verify the authorization status of those materials, such as:

Internal Verification: Check internally if there is any record of purchasing or obtaining authorization for the font.

Third-Party Supplier Verification: If the relevant materials were provided by a third-party supplier, contact the supplier to confirm whether they purchased the font and the scope of authorization.

Through these steps, a company can fully verify the nature of the alleged infringing use, ensuring sufficient legal and factual basis when responding to font companies.

3. Response Strategies

If an internal investigation confirms no infringement, the company should promptly respond to the font company, condemning any suspected abuse of rights to deter the company from similar actions in the short term.

If unauthorized use is confirmed, or the usage status cannot be verified, the company should take appropriate measures based on the specific situation. The company can negotiate with the font company to reach a settlement and avoid further legal disputes. Specific negotiation strategies may include:

• Price Negotiation: The company can negotiate a reasonable settlement amount based on the font company’s official prices, the audience reach of the infringing materials, and compensation amounts in similar cases.
• Long-Term Cooperation: The company may consider establishing a long-term cooperative relationship with the font company by purchasing more font licenses to resolve potential disputes and legally use these fonts in future promotional materials.

Through these strategies, a company can effectively respond to font copyright challenges, ensuring its legal rights are protected while avoiding unnecessary legal disputes.

Choosing Safe Fonts

Given the increasing emphasis on intellectual property protection and evolving enforcement strategies of font companies, companies should pay attention to font usage compliance in promotional materials and choose safe fonts. Many commonly used fonts in office tools, such as Microsoft YaHei, DengXian are not free for commercial use.

Some font companies offer "free" fonts on their official websites; however, "free" may not mean "free for commercial use" or "permanently free." Therefore, it is recommended that companies take the following steps to verify the "safety" of font usage:

1.    Confirm Font Ownership: Check the copyright owner of the font via the copyright registration system to ensure clear ownership information.

2.    Verify the Validity of "Free" Promises: Check the official website’s ICP filing information to confirm that the filing entity matches the font company, ensuring the authenticity and reliability of the "free" promise.

3.    Confirm Authorization Conditions: After verifying the font ownership and "free" promise, carefully read the font’s authorization terms, focusing on:

• Usage Scenarios: Confirm the authorization conditions for different usage scenarios (e.g., commercial use, online dissemination).
• Usage Period: Confirm the usage period to ensure legal use within the authorized period.
• Other Restrictions: Pay attention to any other restrictions, such as geographic limitations or modification prohibitions.

By following these steps, a company can effectively verify the "safety" of font usage, ensuring legal use in promotional materials and avoiding legal disputes due to font infringement issues.

AI and Font Design: The Intersection of Innovation and Challenges

With the rapid development of AI technology, some font companies have begun exploring the integration of AI in font design and generation. Although AI applications in the font field are still in their infancy, we may soon see a large number of AI-generated fonts. This will raise a series of new legal issues, such as:

1.    Copyright Ownership:

• Do AI-generated fonts constitute copyrighted works?
• Who should own the copyright? The AI developer, the user, or other related parties?

2.    Legal Protection:

• How to ensure effective protection of AI-generated fonts within the legal framework?
• Who should be liable if AI-generated fonts infringe on others’ copyrights?

3.    Market Impact:

• Will AI-generated fonts change the existing font market landscape?
• How should font companies adjust their strategies to address competition and opportunities brought by AI?

If AI-generated fonts can be used safely, it will be a disruptive change for font supply and demand. I will continue to closely monitor developments in this field, track the latest trends in AI in font design, and provide timely guidance to clients to adjust strategies and address potential new challenges and opportunities.