[XeTeX] font license

maxwell maxwell at umiacs.umd.edu
Wed Sep 3 21:31:39 CEST 2014


On to the next problem.  We're typesetting a Bangla grammar, and the 
chosen font for the Bengali script is the Nikosh font.  This ttf font 
was reportedly developed by the government of Bangladesh, and is freely 
downloadable from their website, e.g.
    
http://www.bpdb.gov.bd/bpdb/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=239
    
http://www.ecs.gov.bd/English/QLTemplate1.php?Parameter_QLSCat_ID=68&ByDate=0&Year=

Now that I have the xetex -output-driver parameter on the correct side 
of the input file name on the command line (see my previous thread...), 
xdvipdfmx is refusing to embed this Nikosh font in the PDF unless I use 
the -E (embed regardless of license) parameter.  I'm not happy about 
doing that.

I have been googling around for the Nikosh font license (no luck--some 
sites claim it's freely available, but that probably doesn't mean 
anything), and also for some app that would let me read the license 
restrictions which I assume are embedded somehow in the .ttf file 
(otherwise how could xdvipdfmx find it?).  Tried fc-scan, FontForge, 
'strings Nikosh.ttf | grep -i fstype', etc.

I understand that some font creation tools default to non-embeddable 
font licenses, and that some developers may not realize that (or not 
realize the implications).

How do I find the exact license restrictions on a truetype font?

    Mike Maxwell
    University of Maryland



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