How to Edit Copyright Notice in FontForge

Editing the copyright notice in FontForge ensures your font files contain legally compliant metadata recognized across all major operating systems. This guide details how to navigate FontForge’s metadata settings, the proper syntax required for standard legal protection, and how to save these changes directly into your font binaries.

A legally robust font copyright notice should typically follow standard international conventions (such as the Universal Copyright Convention) or specific open-source standards (such as the SIL Open Font License).

For proprietary or standard commercial fonts, use: Copyright (c) [Year of first publication]-[Current Year], [Copyright Holder / Foundry Name]. All rights reserved.

For fonts licensed under the SIL Open Font License (OFL), the required standard format is: Copyright (c) [Year], [Copyright Holder] (<URL or email>), with Reserved Font Name [Font Name].

Note: While the character "©" can be used, typing (c) alongside it ensures compatibility with legacy systems that do not render Unicode characters correctly in metadata fields.

Step-by-Step Instructions in FontForge

  1. Open FontForge and Load the Font Launch FontForge and open your existing font file (.sfd, .ttf, or .otf).

  2. Access Font Info Navigate to the top menu and select Element > Font Info, or press Ctrl + Shift + F (Windows/Linux) or Cmd + Shift + F (macOS).

  3. Navigate to the TTF Names Tab In the left-hand category menu of the Font Info window, click on TTF Names. This section manages the OpenType/TrueType name table where standard system metadata resides.

  4. Edit the Copyright String (Name ID 0) Locate the row with Copyright under the "Name" column.

    • Double-click the text area corresponding to the Copyright entry.
    • Enter your updated, formatted copyright string following the legal standard described above.
    • Ensure the language is set to English (US), which serves as the default fallback for all operating systems.

  5. Update Additional Licensing Fields (Optional but Recommended) To fully satisfy legal and distribution requirements:

    • Locate License Description (Name ID 13) and insert your full license text or an explicit statement (e.g., "This font is licensed under the SIL Open Font License, Version 1.1").
    • Locate License Info URL (Name ID 14) and provide the direct URL pointing to your legal agreement.

  6. Apply the Changes Click OK at the bottom of the Font Info dialog. FontForge will apply the updated table entries to your font workspace.

  7. Regenerate the Font Files To embed the new copyright metadata into distributable binaries:

    • Go to File > Generate Fonts...
    • Choose your desired format (OpenType CFF .otf or TrueType .ttf).
    • Click Generate to overwrite or export your updated font.