Latest news with #JustVanRossum
Sunday World
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Iconic anti-piracy campaign under fire for allegedly using pirated font
The designer of the original font said he finds the whole thing 'hilarious' The campaign has become a piece of pop-culture history An iconic anti-piracy campaign is under fire after it was alleged that the font used was pirated itself. The advertisement, which is etched into the minds of anyone of a certain vintage, appeared before the trailers on videos, DVDS and in cinemas from 2004 to 2008. Warning punters not to illegally reproduce a copy of any films, it featured punchy music as text, such as 'you wouldn't steal a car' and 'you wouldn't steal a handbag' flashed on screen following a depiction of each act. 'Piracy. It's a crime,' the final message read, designed to deter viewers from making a copy of whatever film they were watching. The ads became a piece of pop-culture history and have been mocked relentlessly for years since their first release. It was also jeered in the IT Crowd episode 'Moss and the German' when they re-created the ad, adding even more absurd crimes such as stealing a baby, and shooting a policeman before going to the toilet in his cap. Now, a Bluesky user has alleged that the font used in the marketing campaign was pirated after running a screenshot of the text through online software to detect the font used. The original font, FF Confidential, was created by Just Van Rossum in 1992, but it was allegedly cloned and released as a font called XBand-Rough. While this version of the font was free, the original one was not. The social media user claims that the pirated XBand-Rough was used in the anti-piracy ads, and not the original one. Speaking about the irony, Van Rossum told TorrentFreak, an online blog that reports on copyright infringements among other things, that he found the whole thing 'hilarious.' 'I knew my font was used for the campaign and that a pirated clone named XBand-Rough existed,' he said. 'I did not know that the campaign used XBand-Rough and not FF Confidential, though. So this fact is new to me, and I find it hilarious.' He also told Sky News that the irony was 'precious.' "The campaign has always had the wrong tone, which (to me) explains the level of fun that has been had at its expense. The irony of it having used a pirated font is just precious.' Despite this there is no evidence to suggest that the designers of the marketing campaign were aware that the font they used was pirated. In a statement, one of the producers of the campaign Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) said it pre-dated anyone who currently works there and so could not comment.4.6k
Daily Mail
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
You wouldn't steal a... font: Famous anti-piracy campaign from the early 2000s 'uses pirated typeface'
An iconic anti-piracy advert has come under fire after it was reported that the font used in the campaign was in fact pirated itself. The hyperbolic advert was almost unavoidable during the early 2000s, appearing on DVDs and video cassettes as well as in cinemas. The crime-thriller style video flashes up with sentiments of 'You wouldn't steal a car, you wouldn't steal a handbag' alongside a backdrop of thumping music. It follows with the warning 'Piracy. It's a crime ', designed to strike fear into viewers, giving them second thoughts about burning a copy of the data onto their own disk or tape. However in an incredible twist fit for the movies themselves, social media users have discovered that the font itself was pirated from Just Van Rossum, a Dutch typeface designer. Van Rossum created his FF Confidential font in 1992. It was then illegally cloned and released as the font XBand-Rough, The Times reported. While this font was free, companies were charged for the use of Rossum's original creation. A Bluesky user ran an image from the 'You wouldn't steal a car' campaign through an online software which detects the exact font used. The user discovered that the pirated XBand-Rough was used instead of Rossum's original creation. The creators of the ad campaign are unlikely to have been aware of their font being pirated as it was not common knowledge that the XBand-Rough font was an illegal copy. It is also possible the adverts paid for and used the licensed version of the font. The font's original creator Just Van Rossum told tech news website TorrentFreak that he found the news 'hilarious'. He told the site he was unsure if his font was licensed or whether the cloned version was used for the campaign. He said: 'I knew my font was used for the campaign and that a pirated clone named XBand-Rough existed. I did not know that the campaign used XBand-Rough and not FF Confidential, though. So this fact is new to me, and I find it hilarious.' In the past, reports claimed the music used for the iconic warning was pirated. However these were proven to be false. The advert was discontinued in 2009, five years after its debut. But has lived on in collections for many years since. The clips were replaced with adverts promoting British cinema and thanking viewers for supporting films. MailOnline contacted the organisations behind the adverts, the UK's anti-piracy agency FACT, America's Motion Picture Association and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore.
