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Exact definition of “100% Free”
Quote Does “100% Free” mean free for use in published content, like in an independent film?
Thanx
Edited on Jun 18, 2023 at 10:04 by Spudthumper88
Thanx
Edited on Jun 18, 2023 at 10:04 by Spudthumper88
yes! But if you want to be sure, contact the author of said font.
@Spudthumper88: If you're asking a question like this, you should include the name of the font applicable to your inquiry.
Some fonts listed as 100% free are in that category because the author chose that license when they uploaded their own work.
Some fonts listed as 100% free are in that category because information to that effect is contained in the header section of the font file. In older Windows operating systems, I think up to XP, the header could be read if the font was open in preview.
Some fonts are listed as 100% free because all work by that specific author is freeware.
Some fonts are 100% free because it says so in a read me document enclosed in the download .zip.
Some fonts are 100% free, but not listed with that license, because the font was uploaded by someone other than the author.
Some fonts are 100% free because it's been determined that the author is deceased.
Some fonts are 100% free because someone else asked previously, and dafont staff remember the author's reply. I don't know if Dieter Steffmann is still alive, but the procedure to obtain permission to use HIS fonts was just to ask politely on him home page. He said yes to everyone who did that.
Keep in mind that there are fonts on dafont which were made more than 30 years ago. In many cases, the person who made them no longer has any interest in typography, and the contact information, if it even exists, may be many years out of date.
Some of the 'old masters' of freeware fonts worked in typesetting during their employment career, then they made digital versions of their work after they retired. They just wanted their work to continue to be used after the age of lead block text.
Twenty years ago, a lot more fonts were 100% free, as a gift to the design community for freeware fonts made by other people. The commercialization of quickly made amateurish fonts is a relatively recent phenomena. Some kids think they'll pay for their college education with a few fonts they made on rainly afternoons. They look at download statistics, and see each as a potential sale. In reality, a whole lot of people collect fonts because they're free, as a form of hoarding. In many cases, the font itself will never be extracted from the .zip file. I have Gigabytes of unextracted font .zips, and I can't be the only one.
Some people download the same font multiple times, because they don't remember that they already have it. Some of the authors download their own fonts multiple times, to be placed higher on the popularity list.
Most of the people who download free fonts would decline, if the download cost a dollar. Quality of work matters, if the goal is to make money. Quantity of downloads just means that many people believe that the font is more valuable than the disk space it will occupy.
If you want to cover your butt legally, post a comment on the font description page, stating that you are using the author's font for an independent film, and that you are willing to pay fair compensation. Most likely, you'll never get an answer, but you can settle the matter if you do.
Some fonts listed as 100% free are in that category because the author chose that license when they uploaded their own work.
Some fonts listed as 100% free are in that category because information to that effect is contained in the header section of the font file. In older Windows operating systems, I think up to XP, the header could be read if the font was open in preview.
Some fonts are listed as 100% free because all work by that specific author is freeware.
Some fonts are 100% free because it says so in a read me document enclosed in the download .zip.
Some fonts are 100% free, but not listed with that license, because the font was uploaded by someone other than the author.
Some fonts are 100% free because it's been determined that the author is deceased.
Some fonts are 100% free because someone else asked previously, and dafont staff remember the author's reply. I don't know if Dieter Steffmann is still alive, but the procedure to obtain permission to use HIS fonts was just to ask politely on him home page. He said yes to everyone who did that.
Keep in mind that there are fonts on dafont which were made more than 30 years ago. In many cases, the person who made them no longer has any interest in typography, and the contact information, if it even exists, may be many years out of date.
Some of the 'old masters' of freeware fonts worked in typesetting during their employment career, then they made digital versions of their work after they retired. They just wanted their work to continue to be used after the age of lead block text.
Twenty years ago, a lot more fonts were 100% free, as a gift to the design community for freeware fonts made by other people. The commercialization of quickly made amateurish fonts is a relatively recent phenomena. Some kids think they'll pay for their college education with a few fonts they made on rainly afternoons. They look at download statistics, and see each as a potential sale. In reality, a whole lot of people collect fonts because they're free, as a form of hoarding. In many cases, the font itself will never be extracted from the .zip file. I have Gigabytes of unextracted font .zips, and I can't be the only one.
Some people download the same font multiple times, because they don't remember that they already have it. Some of the authors download their own fonts multiple times, to be placed higher on the popularity list.
Most of the people who download free fonts would decline, if the download cost a dollar. Quality of work matters, if the goal is to make money. Quantity of downloads just means that many people believe that the font is more valuable than the disk space it will occupy.
If you want to cover your butt legally, post a comment on the font description page, stating that you are using the author's font for an independent film, and that you are willing to pay fair compensation. Most likely, you'll never get an answer, but you can settle the matter if you do.
metaphasebrothel said 
@Spudthumper88: If you're asking a question like this, you should include the name of the font applicable to your inquiry.
The font is called “Seabreed” from SDFonts. I asked them but received no response. Do you know where SDFonts stands on that?
Spudthumper88 said
Do you know where SDFonts stands on that?
From the old website there's this:
"Welcome, my humble visitors.
You've entered to the SDFonts Webpage. Here is collected my all fonts. They are all for free. You
are not asked to pay anything (paying attention is all I ask :-))."
http://web.archive.org/web/20121010165249/http://jump.to/SDfonts/
Guess you'll have to use your own judgment.
jerseygirl said
Spudthumper88 said
Do you know where SDFonts stands on that?
From the old website there's this:
"Welcome, my humble visitors.
You've entered to the SDFonts Webpage. Here is collected my all fonts. They are all for free. You
are not asked to pay anything (paying attention is all I ask :-))."
http://web.archive.org/web/20121010165249/http://jump.to/SDfonts/
Guess you'll have to use your own judgment.
Thank you so much!! Yeah, I’m not exactly sure what “paying attention” refers to.
Edited 2 times. Last edit on Jun 22, 2023 at 19:20 by Spudthumper88
All of the SDFonts on dafont were posted before 2006, and the last updates were in February, 2007. There's no current associated dafont member account. Leaving a comment that you used the font for your film, (and a brief acknowledgement in the end credits), would appear to be sufficent. There's a tiny chance that you might have to cough up $5, somewhere down the road.
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