Font Licensing

[jem]

Hi all.

I started an innocent little project writing a quiz engine for a small junior college I used to work at and it's turned into a rather substantial piece of software that some other small schools are expressing an interest in. Needless to say, I am psyched....

The problem is that it is heavily dependent on two fonts specifically for their spacing and how it is used in certain graphics and equations etc... I haven't been able to find acceptable replacement fonts out of those fonts that are out there without use restrictions, and I'm not up to the task of making my own.

I've made some inquiries into licensing (because the fonts would have to be shipped with the software to ensure that the user sees things as they are supposed to be), but I have no idea how to answer the questions about my "projected distribution" etc...
I really couldn't get an answer to my one question: Is this even do-able for my "one-person- not yet-in-existence-start-up-company"? I don't even know at this point if this venture is going to turn into anything at all, but I don't want to continue working on the software until I figure this out because it would be such a huge job to change the visual layout if I have to find another font later.

Does anyone have experience with this sort of thing?
Any insight is truly appreciated.

Thanks,
jem

[Blair Mahaffy]

Hi jem,

I've been down this road a bit. One company called Bear Rock lets you license individual copies OR get a overall distribution license. So, in the early stages, license single copies and build the cost into your product. If it looks like you are going to take off, get the distribution license when you can see the "break even" point is achievable.

Best of Luck!