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The tool could include all known open source fonts, and for the rest, maybe could have a model recreate missing fonts for non-patented fonts, as while font files (.ttf, .otf, .woff, etc.) are copyrighted, styles usually do not have design patents, so tracing and re-creating them is usually not an issue as far as I'm aware (not a lawyer.) [1] Though if it accidentally "traces" one of the few exceptions, then you've potentially committed a crime, and the big difficulty in typeface detection you mention increases those odds. That said, there are so few exceptions that even if the model couldn't properly identify a font, it might be able to identify whether a font is likely to have a design patent. I do think getting an AI to create a high quality vector font from a potentially low-res raster graphic is going to be quite challenging though. Raster to vector tools I've tried in the past left a bit to be desired. 1. https://www.copyright.gov/comp3/chap900/ch900-visual-art.pdf > As a general rule, typeface, typefont, lettering, calligraphy, and typographic ornamentation are not registrable. 37 C.F.R. § 202.1(a), (e). These elements are mere variations of uncopyrightable letters or words, which in turn are the building blocks of expression. See id. The Office typically refuses claims based on individual alphabetic or numbering characters, sets or fonts of related characters, fanciful lettering and calligraphy, or other forms of typeface. This is true regardless of how novel and creative the shape and form of the typeface characters may be. > There are some very limited cases where the Office may register some types of typeface, typefont, lettering, or calligraphy, such as the following: > • Pictorial or graphic elements that are incorporated into uncopyrightable characters or used to represent an entire letter or number may be registrable. Examples include original pictorial art that forms the entire body or shape of the typeface characters, such as a representation of an oak tree, a rose, or a giraffe that is depicted in the shape of a particular letter. > • Typeface ornamentation that is separable from the typeface characters is almost always an add-on to the beginning and/or ending of the characters. To the extent that such flourishes, swirls, vector ornaments, scrollwork, borders and frames, wreaths, and the like represent works of pictorial or graphic authorship in either their individual designs or patterned repetitions, they may be protected by copyright. However, the mere use of text effects (including chalk, popup papercraft, neon, beer glass, spooky-fog, and weathered-and-worn), while potentially separable, is de minimis and not sufficient to support a registration. > The Office may register a computer program that creates or uses certain typeface or typefont designs, but the registration covers only the source code that generates these designs, not the typeface, typefont, lettering, or calligraphy itself. For a general discussion of computer programs that generate typeface designs, see Chapter 700, Section 723. |