Meta Font “Free for All” Through Second Life?
March 14th, 2007 by Jerome Dahdah
It appears that both Mac and PC TrueType versions of Erik Spiekermann’s FF Meta Book and FF Meta Bold are being freely delivered along with the official Second Life client. The fonts’ .ttf files can be copied and used without system restrictions.
This begs the question whether the font was intended for free distribution among currently 4,598,897 users* or if this was a major oversight. A single cut is currently priced at around 50€ (FontShop).
Second Life Status Screen
Meta Book und Meta Bold Mac
Meta Book und Meta Bold PC
The fonts can be found in the following paths:
Mac:
/Contents/Resources/fonts/Windows
\SecondLife\fonts\
Screen Mac
Screen PC
You’ll also find ProFontWindows 2.3 – the windows version of Andrew Welch’s ProFont.
Originally discovered by my friend on etrib.de (german version).
Update 2007-05-27: I met Erik Spiekermann yesterday. I’ve written a (tiny) update on the matter in a review.
* note that the actual distribution is less, as some users have multiple accounts per client.
parasight.de
March 14th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
[…] 0 Kommentare Permalink Trackback Propaganda […]
March 14th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
[…] Was sehen meine Augen da bei position:absolute? Second Life wird offensichtlich mit zwei Schnitten der Meta von Erik Spiekermann ausgeliefert. Dies gilt sowohl für die Mac als auch für die Windows-Version. […]
March 21st, 2007 at 3:52 pm
[…] via: position:absolute Tags: Second Life. […]
April 1st, 2007 at 7:27 pm
[…] Apparently, Secondlife Installation Package includes Erik Spiekermann’s FF Meta Book and FF Meta Bold as .ttf. It’s questionable, whether these fonts can be used for free (a single cut is currently priced at around 50 Euro) However, you can find them, following instructions in the article Meta Font “Free for All” Through Second Life?. […]
April 6th, 2007 at 9:56 pm
[…] Apparently, Secondlife Installation Package includes Erik Spiekermann’s FF Meta Book and FF Meta Bold as .ttf. It’s questionable, whether these fonts can be used for free (a single cut is currently priced at around 50 Euro). However, you can exract them, following instructions in the article Meta Font “Free for All” Through Second Life?. […]
April 30th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
FF Meta Book and Bold may be used solely to the extent necessary to use the Linden Software in Second Life and not for any other purpose whatsoever. Check Second Life’s Terms of Service.
April 30th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
Yes, I’m sure that’s true. I just have my doubts Fontshop would be entirely satisfied with that. ;) From what I’ve heard, Linden Labs didn’t even have a license to use the font internally within their house, but I don’t want to spread false rumors, so take that with a grain of salt.
May 22nd, 2007 at 3:38 pm
[…] Spiekermann (creator of FF Meta, I reported the SecondLife incident) will be holding a lecture, along with an array of other well-known designers, Photoshop gurus and […]
May 25th, 2007 at 3:32 am
[…] looking somewhat lost so I approached him and we had a little chat. When I asked him about the Second Life Meta Font ordeal, he didn’t give me much information for legal reasons, but I know that there were some legal […]
May 25th, 2007 at 4:06 am
Alright, Linden Lab did have a license for internal use, but not for distribution. I know this from a reliable source. ;)
June 22nd, 2007 at 10:35 am
[…] Apparently, Secondlife Installation Package includes Erik Spiekermann’s FF Meta Book and FF Meta Bold as .ttf. It’s questionable, whether these fonts can be used for free (a single cut is currently priced at around 50 Euro). However, you can exract them, following instructions in the article Meta Font “Free for All” […]
October 16th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
Closing comments due to excessive spamming. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have anything to add to this conversation.
July 9th, 2012 at 2:10 pm
[…] Apparently, Secondlife Installation Package includes Erik Spiekermann’s FF Meta Book and FF Meta Bold as .ttf. It’s questionable, whether these fonts can be used for free (a single cut is currently priced at around 50 Euro). However, you can exract them, following instructions in the article Meta Font “Free for All” Through Second Life?. […]