There is a mismatch in the license notices of the Kana fonts contained in the ghostscript-fonts-other-6.0.tar.gz font archive [1]. File int.mak [2] states they are *freeware*: " # The free distribution includes Bitstream Charter, Utopia, and # freeware Cyrillic and Kana fonts. " File Fontmap.GS [3] states they are *shareware*: " % Shareware Kana fonts. These are subject to the following notice: % % These copyrighted fonts were developed by Kevin Hartig. Permission is % granted to freely distribute them in entirety along with this statement. % This is shareware. If you decide to use these fonts please contribute % $10 US to help support further freeware and shareware software development. % Questions and comments may be sent to: % % hartig@fsl.noaa.gov % khartig@nyx.cs.du.edu % % Kevin Hartig % 1126 Collyer Street % Longmont, CO 80501 USA % % copyright 1993. " So, which is the right notice? If I compile and build the Kana fonts in my libgs dynamic library and distribute it in a commercial product, should I pay 10$ to Kevin Hartig? [1] <ftp://mirror.cs.wisc.edu/pub/mirrors/ghost/fonts/ghostscript-fonts-other-6.0.tar.gz> [2] <http://svn.ghostscript.com:8080/ghostscript/trunk/gs/src/int.mak> [3] <http://svn.ghostscript.com:8080/ghostscript/trunk/gs/lib/Fontmap.GS>
The license in the fontmap and the font file itself probably outvote the claim that they're freely distributable as part of the Hershey font collection. I've written to Kevin Hartig at the referenced email addresses but not heard back. So it's quite likely you'd be liable for a $10 font license if you shipped them with a commercial product. You may also need a commercial license for libgs.so; see http://www.artifex.com/licensing/ for details.
I've had no luck so far tracking down a responsible party. Maybe you'd like to take over? BTW, the -other fonts distribution isn't very interesting any more. 10 years ago there were many fewer free font collections; but these days most systems have a good font complement, and only the -std distribution with the required postscript 13 fonts is really necessary.
Thanks for your efforts Ralph. I have no idea on how to contact Kevin Hartig… do you tried to send him a plain old snail mail or to find his telephone number? I don't know if the same applies to U.S.A., but here in Italy if you know the address of a person you can often recover the associated telephone number.
According to Wikipedia, he is working for http://www.digitalreasoning.com The only email address they have on the iste is info@digitalreasoning.com
Thanks for the detective work, Alex ;-) Ralph, did you try to contact Kevin at info@digitalreasoning.com?
Hi. This is Kevin Hartig. The author of these fonts. I am no longer distributing Calligraphic-Hiragana (fhirw.gsf) and Calligraphic-Katakana (fkarw.gsf) fonts anymore.They are free for anyone's use. I confirm that they are now distributable under the terms of the SIL Open Font License with the following copyright notice: Copyright (c) 1993, Kevin Hartig (kevin.hartig@gmail.com), with Reserved Font Name Calligraphic-Hiragana and Calligraphic-Katakana. This Font Software is licensed under the SIL Open Font License, Version 1.1. This license is available with an FAQ at: http://scripts.sil.org/OFL If there is anything else I need to do to allow these fonts to be distributed freely, please let me know. Thanks. -kevin. kevin.hartig@gmail.com
Thanks Kevin, it's great to have this cleared up, and more fonts under the OFL. Your generosity is appreciated!