4 ms·

We switched away from this font because even though we had a lifetime multi-site commercial license from the previous owner of the font, we were constantly gett

by eli 3y ago

We switched away from this font because even though we had a lifetime multi-site commercial license from the previous owner of the font, we were constantly getting legal threats from the current owners The Type Founders. Like several times a year we had to put together paperwork to show we could legally use it. I feel like you should have to do some minimum amount of research before demanding a cash settlement from someone.

jandrese 3y ago
Why pay for your own lawyers when you can make the other person pay theirs instead? Plus they might decide it is not worth the effort and just settle. It is very rare for companies to be punished for abusing the legal system this way, and usually only after years or decades of flagrant abuse.
- eli 3y ago
  I have no idea if The Type Founders even designs typefaces. I assume it's staffed with just lawyers and paralegals.
JimmyRuska 3y ago
Scammers are sending me geeksquad invoice emails every week. Scammers sent fake invoices to GOOG and META and receive 100m for it [1]. This feels no different, just scan for sites using your font and send invoices frequently whether they have a license or not. It's a very hacker/scammer type of approach to making money, or I guess you could call it a private equity font-industry-vertical 10x secret sauce. https://www.npr.org/2019/03/25/706715377/man-pleads-guilty-to-phishing-scheme-that-fleeced-facebook-google-of-100-million https://www.npr.org/2019/03/25/706715377/man-pleads-guilty-t...
- eli 3y ago
  That's just straight up fraud. This company demanding payment really does own the font.
  - JimmyRuska 3y ago
    They're sending people a bunch of invoices without any due dilligence. You're going to get companies that double pay because they're not sure/don't have time to review licensing contracts. The business model is very scam inspired.

4 ms·

We switched away from this font because even though we had a lifetime multi-site commercial license from the previous owner of the font, we were constantly gett

by eli 3y ago

jandrese 3y ago
Why pay for your own lawyers when you can make the other person pay theirs instead? Plus they might decide it is not worth the effort and just settle. It is very rare for companies to be punished for abusing the legal system this way, and usually only after years or decades of flagrant abuse.
- eli 3y ago
  I have no idea if The Type Founders even designs typefaces. I assume it's staffed with just lawyers and paralegals.
JimmyRuska 3y ago
Scammers are sending me geeksquad invoice emails every week. Scammers sent fake invoices to GOOG and META and receive 100m for it [1]. This feels no different, just scan for sites using your font and send invoices frequently whether they have a license or not. It's a very hacker/scammer type of approach to making money, or I guess you could call it a private equity font-industry-vertical 10x secret sauce. https://www.npr.org/2019/03/25/706715377/man-pleads-guilty-to-phishing-scheme-that-fleeced-facebook-google-of-100-million https://www.npr.org/2019/03/25/706715377/man-pleads-guilty-t...
- eli 3y ago
  That's just straight up fraud. This company demanding payment really does own the font.
  - JimmyRuska 3y ago
    They're sending people a bunch of invoices without any due dilligence. You're going to get companies that double pay because they're not sure/don't have time to review licensing contracts. The business model is very scam inspired.