Font Management Software's Vital Protection

When London (UK) publisher Faber and Faber aimed to achieve Federation Against Copyright Theft (FAST) certification to comply with copyright laws, a full audit of its software and fonts was essential.

Historically, fonts were mainly used in Faber and Faber's book production department to transfer authors' manuscripts to the final layouts.

That required a varied but relatively small group of typefaces.

Book covers, however, have changed, just as Faber's portfolio has grown, from simple designs using only a few fonts, to artistic, colourful designs created to grab the attention of potential readers.

Similarly, Faber's art department has grown to the stage where most cover designs are now conceived and produced in-house, rather than out-sourced to a third party.

That has led to demand for a more varied choice of typefaces from the company's art designers and now, with all genres of book now catered for, the range of fonts used in the design department is huge, according to Monotype Imaging.

Faber and Faber needed a software application to help the company manage its fonts,which led to an examination of several available products.

The company had seen demonstrations of the Visual Audit X3 product from Visionsoft running on PCs but its non-compliance with Macintosh platforms ruled it out.

So, with the assistance of Faber and Faber's Mac consultant, Jim Lindsay, who had previous expertise in fonts, two products were chosen for appraisal - Fontwise from Monotype Imaging and the Suitcase Server product from Extensis.

However, according to Monotype Imaging Suitcase Server was considered too inflexible for Faber and Faber's designers to use effectively.

Roy Smith, information systems manager at Faber and Faber, explained: "Fontwise has a great depth of reporting, showing us exactly which font is in which directory or drive across the company but without restricting our design department.

Fonts to designers are like shiny things to magpies because they see one and they have to have it.

The beauty of Fontwise is that it allows us to track any new additions and give designers the option of buying the licence if they decide they really want it.

Smith, who had the task of achieving FAST accreditation for Faber and Faber, described the background to the drive to achieve the FAST standard: "It wasn't the case that staff didn't care about font licensing.

The problem was a general lack of awareness of the copyright laws surrounding fonts and the concept of fonts as intellectual property.

Once the audit was explained and underway there was no resistance from designers and, as a company, our intellectual property and copyright is integral to our success, and we would be up in arms if our books were copied or pirated, so we readily appreciate the value of compliance.

An initial trial of Fontwise was carried out on 10 Mac computers at Faber and Faber and deployed with a further 21 users.

The auditing process is still being implemented but, according to Monotype Imaging, the benefits can already be seen.

Designers within the design department can now manage the fonts they need on a daily basis from a central location and they have the ability to choose any additional fonts they may need, whilst remaining within the law.

As a result, with a new set of purchasing processes in place, font management is streamlined, saving time for the design and IT departments, added Monotype.

The IT support team is also handling fewer problems caused by rogue fonts.

Roy Smith commented: "We had a rough estimate in mind before we carried out the audit but we were totally shocked to see a six-figure number of fonts across 21 machines, which was was over three times the amount we had estimated in advance.

When the initial audit was complete, it was submitted to Monotype Imaging with a list of which fonts for which the company did and did not have the licenses.

Faber and Faber bought the remaining licenses and began changing its internal fonts policies.

Under the new rules any free fonts available for download are no longer permitted and all purchases have to be routed through the IT department.

Smith explained: "Poorly designed fonts, such as the vast majority of those you see online for free, can cause major IT problems.

Some can cause serious start-up issues, whilst others fail to display or print properly.

However, he added that with Fontwise eliminating all unlicensed fonts from Faber and Faber's systems, those problems and subsequent support calls have already been reduced, freeing more resources to move the company forward.

He added: "It's still early days but the difference is already significant and we expect that to continue.

However, Smith emphasised that the most important benefit is the knowledge that the company is proactively taking steps to manage its font assets legally and he continued: "Alarm bells started ringing when we saw other publishers punished for breaching copyright but we now have the tools and the knowledge required to maintain legality indefinitely.

We know how important our own intellectual property is for our business, so ethically there really isn't any other option.

Founded in 1929 by Geoffrey Faber, Faber and Faber has published books by some of the world's best-loved writers, from T S Eliot, W H Auden and William Golding to Harold Pinter, Ted Hughes and Peter Carey.

Originally focusing on biographies, memoirs, fiction, poetry and essays, Faber and Faber's portfolio now covers a diverse range including non-fiction, music and children's titles.

The company, which was KPMG Publisher of the Year at the 2006 British Book Trade Awards, employs 90 people in the UK.

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