Copyright Office Changes Policy on Digitized Type Faces

In 1988 the Copyright Office issued a policy decision which, for all practical purposes, denied copyright registration to the computer programs that generate digitized typeface designs. Last August the Copyright Office announced that it would reconsider this decision in light of “possible technical advances of the last five years.” Now, the Office has issued a final rule permitting the registration of these programs. We have long advocated the view that the programs which generate typefaces involve original computer instructions which should be subject to copyright protection, and we view the Copyright Office’s acknowledgment of this position to be long overdue.