4

I do not know if https://tug.org/FontCatalogue/ provides an exhaustive list of all of the fonts that are freely available via LaTeX, but I would like to know if I may feel free (or not) to incorporate any such font in the publication of books?

If not, how may I determine whether or not a given font is indeed free for such usage?

Thank you.

Improve this question
2
  • 2
    Quick indicator: If fonts (independent of been listed in the LaTeX Font Catalogue or not) are part of TeX Live they are free (not only free for commercial use, but also in this sense). If the fonts are not part of TeX Live, they still could be free for commercial use, but don't need to be.
    – cabohah
    Dec 1, 2022 at 14:04
  • @cabohah Thank you for your comment. I suspect {hope} you are right based on the assumption that the license of the LaTeX Font Catalogue is a General Public License. Perhaps you may consider expanding your comment into an answer. Thanks again.
    – DDS
    Dec 1, 2022 at 14:17

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
4

Any font in texlive will come ultimately from ctan and ctan catalogue lists, as far as is known, the licence for everything they hold

eg

erwhon font https://ctan.org/pkg/erewhon?lang=en

The SIL Open Font License

elvish https://ctan.org/pkg/elvish

Free license not otherwise listed

and one not in texlive (but in tlcontrib) for licence reasons

literaturnaya https://ctan.org/pkg/literaturnaya

Do Not Sell Except by Arrangement

Improve this answer
3
  • Thank you for this answer. If I am interpreting it correctly, it seems that one must always check with CTAN and the license statement associated with the font or family of fonts. The examples you gave seem clear enough. But, sometimes, take for example, the Times Roman font ... ctan.org/pkg/mathptmx ; one may think that it is entirely free for any purpose, but the Latex Project License does not specifically say so; in fact, it remarks "Please check the package's license before using the software." --- which seems to produce a perpetual cycle without a clear answer.
    – DDS
    Dec 1, 2022 at 14:58
  • 3
    @mlchristians well mathptmx is a virtual font. Back then, the original underlying Times would have been the Adobe Times Roman built in to the PostScript printer. These days it will be the URW Times Clone with an open Licence originating from Ghostscript. So details are tricky but if you find any file in the texlive distribution that does not have an open source licence, report it, it will be removed, So in practice you will not have issues with fonts in texlive. But other fonts downloaded or system fonts used via fontspec, you need to check each case.
    – David Carlisle
    Dec 1, 2022 at 15:07
  • Many thanks for your most helpful answer.
    – DDS
    Dec 1, 2022 at 15:28
-1

To answer your question, i am quoting from this web

Contact, copyright and license The LaTeX Font Catalogue is copyright of and created and maintained by Palle Jørgensen.

He can be contacted via e-mail at [email protected]. Don't hesitate if you have suggestions for improvements and additional fonts.

The license of the LaTeX Font Catalogue is GNU General Public License. The license of the fonts vary, but are all available at no cost. Note that the fonts not necessarily are free to distribute, and some fonts are available for non-commercial use only.

My best guess is that you would reach out to the given email and ask for the specific font you want.

Improve this answer
3
  • On this site, would you know if it possible to directly determine if a given font is for non-commercial use only? In the case of downloaded fonts, many of which come in a zipped folder, there is a readme.txt file which discloses a license type; e.g., freeware, noncommercial etc.
    – DDS
    Dec 1, 2022 at 13:31
  • One more comment if I may---you indicate that "some fonts are available for non-commercial use only". Could you provide me with a specific example of such, so I may see if there is some identifiable characteristic associated with it on this site---that will help me determine others that are in the same category? Many thanks.
    – DDS
    Dec 1, 2022 at 13:43
  • The simpsons font?
    – John Kormylo
    Dec 1, 2022 at 16:16

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .