Can I modify the font software of Noto Sans in the way of taking away some parts of its characters, then adding other characters of another font software like Roboto as substitutes.
These characters to be replaced may be a few of letters and numbers of the font software.
What’s more, can I merge and embed the modified font software into my over-the-top TV software system and sell these TVs all over the world?
Hi Leto -
If Noto Sans and Roboto are both licensed under the OFL then you can modify or combine them in any way as long as you retain the license and copyright notices from both fonts in the new one you make. See the OFL-FAQ starting with question 3.1:
Question: 3.1 Can I change the fonts? Are there any limitations to what things I can and cannot change?
Answer: You are allowed to change anything, as long as such changes do not violate the terms of the license. In other words, you are not allowed to remove the copyright statement(s) from the font, but you could put additional information into it that covers your contribution. See the placeholders in the OFL header template for recommendations on where to add your own statements. (Remember that, when authors have reserved names via the RFN mechanism, you need to change the internal names of the font to your own font name when making your modified version even if it is just a small change.)
Question: 3.2 I have a font that needs a few extra glyphs - can I take them from an OFL licensed font and copy them into mine?
Answer: Yes, but if you distribute that font to others it must be under the OFL, and include the information mentioned in condition 2 of the license.
You can also include the fonts in software that you sell, but the fonts themselves have to be distributed under the OFL. See OFL-FAQ starting with question 1.21:
Question: 1.21 What about including OFL fonts by default in my firmware or dedicated operating system?
Answer: Many such systems are restricted and turned into appliances so that users cannot study or modify them. Using open fonts to increase quality and language coverage is a great idea, but you need to be aware that if there is a way for users to extract fonts you cannot legally prevent them from doing that. The fonts themselves, including any changes you make to them, must be distributed under the OFL even if your firmware has a more restrictive license. If you do transform the fonts and change their formats when you include them in your firmware you must respect any names reserved by the font authors via the RFN mechanism and pick your own font name. Alternatively if you directly add a font under the OFL to the font folder of your firmware without modifying or optimizing it you are simply bundling the font like with any other software collection, and do not need to make any further changes.
Thanks,
Victor
According to GitHub - googlefonts/roboto: The Roboto family of fonts and most distributions I’ve seen of the Roboto font family, it is not released under OFL but rather the Apache 2.0 license.
Hi, bobh:
According to Apache 2.0 license you mentioned, can I modify the font software of Roboto in the way of taking away some parts of its characters, then add these characters to another font software like Note Sans which is released under OFL?
These characters to be taken away may be a few of letters and numbers of the font software of Roboto.
What’s more, can I merge and embed the new combined font software into my over-the-top TV software system and sell these TVs all over the world?
Thanks,
Leto
We cannot give you legal advice regarding Roboto and the Apache license, so we cannot say whether you can legally combine the fonts and sell them.
Any font that contains OFL-licensed portions must be distributed under the OFL. However it is possible to incorporate portions that are licensed under a different license as long as that license is not more restrictive than the OFL and allows sublicensing. For example, the MIT license is permissive enough and allows sublicensing. Apache seems to allow sublicensing, however we cannot say clearly that it does it in a way that is compatible with the OFL.
A better solution for you would be to use Roboto Flex as a source for your additional glyphs. It is OFL-licensed:
Roboto (like everything in GF under Apache) is moving to OFL, but Flex is the latest and greatest version.