SIL Open Font License
{{Short description|Type of license}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{redirect|Open Font|the Open Font Format|OpenType}}
{{Infobox software license
| image = OFL logo rect color.svg
| caption =
| author = SIL Global
| version = 1.1
| publisher =
| date = {{Start date and age|2007|02}}
| OSI approved = Yes{{Cite web|url=http://opensource.org/licenses/OFL-1.1|title = SIL OPEN FONT LICENSE (OFL-1.1) | Open Source Initiative|access-date=2025-03-29}}
| Debian approved = Yes{{Cite web |url=https://wiki.debian.org/DFSGLicenses#The_SIL_Open_Font_License |title=The DFSG and Software Licenses |access-date=2025-03-29 |publisher=Debian |language=en}}
| linking =
| website = {{URL|https://openfontlicense.org/}}
}}
The SIL Open Font License (or OFL in short) is one of the major open font licenses, which allows embedding, or "bundling",{{cite web|url=https://openfontlicense.org/ofl-faq/|title=Question: 1.15 What about distributing fonts with a document? Within a compressed folder structure? Is it distribution, bundling or embedding?|website=OFL-FAQ web version (1.1-update7)|last1=Spalinger|first1=Nicolas|last2=Gaultney|first2=Victor|date=2023-11-27|publisher=SIL International}} of the font in commercially sold products.{{cite book|first1=Matt|last1=Garish|first2=Markus|last2=Gylling|title=Epub 3 Best Practices|date=2013|publisher=O’Reilly Media, Inc.|page=139|isbn=978-1-449-32914-3|url=http://www.uvm.edu/~choman/ebooks/EPUB%203%20Best%20Practices.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103091907/http://www.uvm.edu/~choman/ebooks/EPUB%203%20Best%20Practices.pdf|archive-date=3 November 2019|url-status=live}}
OFL is a free and open source license.{{cite web|title=Open Source License Comparison Grid|publisher=CMU|url=https://www.cmu.edu/cttec/forms/opensourcelicensegrid.pdf|access-date=3 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921141728/http://www.cmu.edu/cttec/forms/opensourcelicensegrid.pdf|archive-date=21 September 2017|url-status=live}}
It was created by SIL Global, the organization behind Ethnologue.
History
The Open Font License was created by SIL Global employees Victor Gaultney and Nicolas Spalinger.{{Cite web|last=Suehle|first=Ruth|title=Then, now, and the future of open source fonts|url=https://opensource.com/life/13/11/dave-crossland-history-future-open-source-fonts|access-date=2021-03-05|website=Opensource.com|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=SIL Open Font License (OFL)|url=https://openfontlicense.org/|access-date=2025-03-29}} Gaultney had previously designed the Gentium font and was unsatisfied with existing font licenses.
The Open Font License was designed for use with many of SIL's Unicode fonts, including Gentium Plus, Charis SIL, and Andika.{{Cite web|title=OFL fonts|url=https://openfontlicense.org/ofl-fonts/|access-date=2023-12-11|website=SIL Open Font License}} The license was in a "public review" stage between 2005 and 2007 and version 1.1 was published in February 2007.
Prior to the release of the OFL, the Bitstream Vera fonts had been released in 2003 under most of the same terms and conditions.{{Cite web|title=Bitstream Vera Fonts – April 16, 2003 – GNOME|url=https://www.gnome.org/fonts/|access-date=2021-03-05|language=en}}
Open-source fonts are a popular choice among designers, and most open-source fonts utilize the Open Font License.{{Cite news|last1=Wagner|first1=Josh|last2=Stein|first2=Joel|date=2020-08-21|title=Goldman Sachs Has Money. It Has Power. And Now It Has a Font|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/21/business/goldman-sachs-font.html|access-date=2021-03-05|issn=0362-4331}} For example, it was used to license a font made by the US government.{{Cite web|title=Why the US Government Just Made Its Own Font|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/why-the-us-government-just-made-its-own-font/|access-date=2021-03-05|website=Vice.com|language=en}}
Terms
The Open Font License is a free software license, and as such permits the fonts to be used, modified, and distributed freely (so long as the resulting fonts remain under the Open Font License). However, the copyright holder may declare the font's name as being a "Reserved Font Name", which modified versions then cannot bear. (This includes subsetting for web fonts.) The license permits covered fonts to be freely embedded in documents under any terms. The only stipulation is that fonts cannot be sold on their own, though they may be included in software bundles for sale.
The license is considered free by the Free Software Foundation (FSF){{Cite web |title=Licenses for Fonts – SIL Open Font License 1.1 |url=https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html#SILOFL |access-date=2025-03-29 |website=gnu.org}} and the Debian project. Although the license requires fonts to be bundled with software when sold, FSF states that this requirement is harmless because it can be satisfied with a simple hello world program.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://openfontlicense.org/ SIL Open Font License version 1.1]
- [https://openfontlicense.org/ofl-faq/ SIL Open Font License FAQ]
- [https://www.linux.com/news/sil-open-font-license-revised/ Linux.com: SIL Open Font License revised]
{{Free and open-source typography}}