Whoa, wow! I poked a stick in an ant-heap!! Ok, I'll tell you guys what's been happening. I sent the advertising company a clear letter (see example given by Vinz - you just adjust it to your needs) telling them that they used my font without paying for it. After all, they did use the demo font (available from dafont), which came with a FAQ file in which I explain that personal use = free, commercial use requires a donation. This donation is not $10, it's up to you. The company told me they were wrong, so I guess the fact they admitted being wrong was something good. I told them which font it was, where they could find the ad (and all the websites it was on). I asked for an X amount of $. They called me and told me they were willing to pay an X amount (less than I wanted), so right now we're negotiating the amount. I told these people that I am not here to rip them off (even when they did use my font illegally), but that I wanted them to right the wrongs. It is impossible to trash or halt the campaign and I realise that (and so did they), so I told them I was merely seeking justice and a compensation for my work.
So in short, this is what I learned:

- if you think your font is being used illegally, then ask the company involved (nicely)
- If they cannot show evidence of having paid, then demand a reasonable sum for your work. If the company is a tiny sweet shop, don't go overboard; if it's a world-wide operating multi-million $ company, ask for more. Just realise that we do not live in the USA and that the amount you ask for is reasonable.
- Write them that letter, tell them where they used the font, point out that they infringed on your rules and ask for a set amount, due in X days.
- Naming and shaming is not done, UNLESS they refuse to pay and play dumb.

And guys, ADD a FAQ file to your downloads. Inside the zip! That way you can always be sure that they received it when they downloaded the font.

;-) thanks Vinz,

Did send them a letter just like that, but they remain quiet. I'll wait another week or so, then write them another letter. If nothing works, I'll contact the big company they made the campaign for. I am sure they don't like bad publicity (given the international status of this company and the fact that everyone in the world knows them).

A big advertising company used one of my fonts for a campaign for one of the world's largest companies (I am not naming names yet). They downloaded the font from dafont and used it. Inside the font zip is a readme file in which it is stated that the font is free for personal use ONLY and that commercial use requires a donation. I wrote this company a mail, because I could not find any information in my Paypal administration that a donation had indeed been made. They admitted (via mail) that they did not pay. I wrote them a second letter telling them to pay up, but to date they have not answered. Any suggestions how to take this further????

It is handmade, but this comes close:

moi non plus font (with some photoshop alterations)

I'd keep it simple, as nothing will satisfy someone who comes up with these qualities for a font. How about Helvetica Neue?
Clean, nice, legible, honest, firm

Probably less original and I know nothing of the truth...

The Truth = Quilted Butterfly

Fledermaus

Wet Dream

wet dream font

Face Your Fears

Hey, I got 4,25 million US$ from a dead Iraqi. You can have some too, just give me your contact and bank account details!

hehehe, come on guys, someone with a hard-luck story and money to spare has to be spam. There are people in Africa being paid to manually insert these messages into forums. I have seen them in action in Mali. They operate mostly on dating sites, but the seem to have found Dafont as well. Nothing you can do about it, just ignore these idiots.

Take the time to visit the font (you know what it's called), then see who made it and contact that person. I just did, it's very simple.
And, yes, fonts are free. That doesn't mean they all have embedding rights. If you don't like this, then stop using other people's (free) fonts and make your own.

Never mind: found the answer (it was well hidden!)

I created a font with contextual alternates (like different a's, different b's, etc), using calt function in OT.
It works like a dream in Fontlab Studio, I compiled the calt and created the font.
However, HOW ON EARTH can I reproduce these alternates in, say, Pages, Word, Photoshop, etc???
It must be something really simple and stupid, but I cannot guess what it is....

So, yeah, probably a stupid question... sorry

;-) Not yet...... E.T.A.: 24th of June

can I download Britney herself as well??? I need a baby sitter

TROLL

Is this person bonkers or what? Well, he chose a good name: Looney.
Wikipedia: "A lunatic is a commonly used term for a person who is mentally ill, dangerous, foolish, unpredictable; a condition once called lunacy".

Please, Mr looney, get off this forum. You are annoying. No one wants to create a font for free for you, so buzz off (pretty please). If you are so set on having your *&%^$ font, then GET the software, READ the books, MAKE the font YOURSELF! Is that SOOOO difficult to understand?? Personally I really, REALLY don't like Looney Tunes. They are old, they are not funny, they belong in a museum. But that is my humble opinion.