Track to the end|A few words on the product packaging "recruit" a lawyer's letter: font infringement, need 20,000 yuan to settle

Cover news reporter Wu Bingqing

Recently, Mr. Liu from Linyi, Shandong Province was a little worried. The sales of two products of the company had just started to improve, and he received a letter from a lawyer—a few words on the product packaging infringed the copyright of others, and the company with the copyright of the font demanded compensation; To settle, need to pay 20,000 yuan. "We just asked an advertising company to design it. Who knew that such a thing would happen." Mr. Liu said.

On the other hand, Mr. Ding, who developed the font, was also very helpless: "There are too many infringements. If we don't defend our rights, it will be difficult for us to continue." It is understood that Mr. Ding's company has previously defended rights against the variety show "I Am Singer", the movie "33 Days of Broken Relationship" and so on.

Business

Designs bought with money were told of infringement

The other party proposed a settlement of 20,000 yuan

Mr. Liu opened an agricultural company in Linyi. Recently, the company launched two new products: fried barley and fried red beans. "In the past two months, as soon as the sales started to rise, the trouble came." On May 11, Mr. Liu received a lawyer's letter from a law firm in Shandong, which stated that the packaging materials of these two products used the copyrighted fonts, it is required to stop using it immediately, make a public apology, and compensate for the resulting economic losses.

Lawyer letter

"What I'm talking about is the product name." Mr. Liu said that the product packaging was designed by a long-term cooperative advertising company in August last year, and the design cost was 251 yuan. "We thought it was good after the design, so we asked a printing company to print it. We didn't know what fonts to use, and we didn't know that there would be infringement."

Product Allegedly Infringing

Product Allegedly Infringing

According to the lawyer's letter, Mr. Liu learned that several words on the product packaging used the "Langqian regular style" of the character making workshop. Afterwards, he immediately contacted the advertising company, who said that the font was downloaded many years ago, and he didn't know it would infringe upon the font when he used it.

"Now we have inquired and found out that this font is not free for commercial use, but as a general merchant, who would think of this?" Mr. Liu told reporters that the company had modified the packaging overnight. In addition, he also contacted Zaozi as soon as possible. The workshop, the other party proposed, can be reconciled with 20,000 yuan.

For this price, Mr. Liu cannot accept: "The total marketing amount is only about 15,000 yuan." He said that if the negotiation fails, he will wait for the court summons and actively respond to the lawsuit.

Font Fang

Dozens of rights protection cases every year

Most of them have weak copyright awareness

On May 17, the reporter contacted the font designer Fang Zizi Workshop. "There are too many infringements, and we defend about dozens of rights every year." The founder Mr. Ding said.

It is understood that there are 153 kinds of 220 types of font products on the market in Zizigongfang. Among them, the font "Langqian" accused of infringement in Mr. Liu's products includes regular, bold, and thin fonts, which were designed 10 years ago. Mr. Ding said that the official website of Zazigongfang is the only legal way to download the font library products of Zazigongfang.

Zhizi Workshop "Langqian" font

The reporter noticed that the official website also stated that "without legal authorization, no individual, enterprise or organization shall use the character library and output single characters for any commercial purpose or scene." To obtain font authorization, a single font The price is 5,000 yuan per year. "This is the price of active purchase. If there is infringement, we will 'claim' according to the original price of 50,000."

Related statement on the official website of Zizigongfang

Mr. Ding said that at present, many people do not know that fonts also need to purchase copyright. "Most of our rights protection objects are of this type. We also hope that through rights protection, we can play a role of informing and enhance the public's copyright awareness."

The reporter's inquiry found that Mr. Ding's previous rights protection targets included the variety show "I Am a Singer" and the movie "33 Days of Broken Relationship", which were suspected of infringing on the use of the fonts "Langqian", "Lihei" and "Yuehei" designed by him. "In the end, after negotiation, the other party paid the relevant fees and reached a settlement agreement."

Mr. Ding said frankly that defending rights is a difficult task. "It also requires cost, time-consuming and energy-consuming. If the other party does not accept negotiation and mediation, then take legal channels."

Attorney

Don't download fonts from third parties

The fonts that come with the software also need to be carefully screened

Chinese characters can be presented in different styles in terms of glyphs, strokes, structure, etc., and there is a lot of room for creativity. "This can become a work of art and is protected by copyright law." Property rights litigation business, she said, there are not a few cases of unauthorized use of fonts for commercial activities that lead to infringement lawsuits.

Cao Yanling reminded that before using fonts, especially when they are used for commercial promotion or product rendering, be sure to check the copyright status of fonts, and it is best not to download fonts from third parties, "Even if there is a disclaimer, it cannot be used as a defense of non-infringement. "In addition, the fonts that come with office software and design software may not necessarily be commercially usable, and need to be carefully screened.

Cao Yanling said that if an infringement occurs, the most direct way is to negotiate the amount of compensation with the right party. If no agreement can be reached, the court will decide.

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