Hi, I’m wiring this because of the use of Noto fonts.
I know that it published under the SIL OFL 1.1 and I have a few questions about the copyrights.
Recently, client wants to merge between specific fonts (they hold the copyright), and Noto fonts to make a products with embedded fonts are in it.
When they merge, can Noto fonts change its sizes or weights? And if so, how much could it be?
They are going to contain the SIL OFL 1.1 notice in their products, but they are not quite sure about how much portion of source code should they distribute, because they merged font that has a copyright.
Is it compulsory to distribute all source code? Or just related parts with Noto fonts?
In this situation, can this merged fonts protected under the copyright laws? As in, does the Client (copyright holder) still have a same copyright of this new modified font? (eg. If someone hack the product and use their fonts) Just be sure that they are going to sell the products not the font software itself.
When they merge, can Noto fonts change its sizes or weights? And if so, how much could it be?
You can modify OFL-licensed fonts in any way.
Is it compulsory to distribute all source code? Or just related parts with Noto fonts?
Only the font itself would need to be released under the OFL, not the software it’s bundled with. You do not need to release all the extended source code (build scripts, for example) for derivative fonts but you are encouraged to do so.
In this situation, can this merged fonts protected under the copyright laws? As in, does the Client (copyright holder) still have a same copyright of this new modified font? (eg. If someone hack the product and use their fonts) Just be sure that they are going to sell the products not the font software itself.
The modified font has two copyright holders, and should have two copyright statements. Google would still have copyright of the portions of the font from Noto, and your client would hold copyright of their portions. For example:
Copyright (c) 2019 Your Client. Portions of font from the Noto project
copyright (c) 2018 The Noto Project Authors (github.com/googlei18n/noto-fonts).
If you use parts of an OFL font in a new font, then the new font also must be released under the OFL. You cannot release it under a different, more restrictive license. That means that others will be allowed to take the new font and modify it.