Hello ________,
I'm a member of the Fedora Project, a community project that produces a complete open-source operating system and platform, and I came across your font _________. It would be great if we could get this font into Fedora, the Linux distribution we produce. We try to carry as many fonts as possible in Fedora, so our users have a wide variety from which to choose.
Our guidelines are very strict about checking the sources of fonts. This allows us to keep Fedora fonts freely distributable by anyone, anywhere in the world. We have millions of users, and any user of Fedora is free to redistribute the contents of Fedora at any time.
Before I package your font for inclusion in Fedora, can I ask you a couple questions about the source? Your answers will help me proceed efficiently, so I appreciate your help.
These bullets are examples. Not every example needs to be included in this kind of note to the upstream provider.
- The upstream license for this font is listed as ____. Could you confirm this for me so I can note it for a future Fedora licensing audit?
- Is this font derived from any other work? If so, can you tell me where I can find that work?
- It would be very helpful if the license text was provided as part of the archive file. I found an authoritative copy of the license text at (((URL))). Could I ask you to roll it into the archive?
- (((FOLLOWUP ONLY))) The license for your font is ____, and it is derived from a work licensed under ____. However, this type of licensing normally requires a written permission from the original work's author. Can you send me a copy of that permission so I can note it for a future Fedora licensing audit?
- (((FOLLOWUP ONLY))) I notice that this font is licensed under GPLv{2,3}[+], but unfortunately using that license with a font can be problematic. If a user embeds this font into PDF document, then the whole file can then be considered licensed under the GPL, due to that license. I believe that this is not the original intention of using the GPL, but rather to make the front freely available, modifiable, and redistributable. A simple solution, though, is to add the GPL's Font Exception to your license. You can read about that exception here: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#FontException
- ...
If you are interested, you can read about Fedora here: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Overview Our font licensing policies are available at: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/SIGs/Fonts/Legal There is also additional general legal information available at: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Legal
Thank you very much for your time and consideration!
The Fonts SIG takes loving care of Fedora fonts. Please join this special interest group if you are interested in creating, improving, packaging, or just suggesting a font. Any help will be appreciated.