The font war is on. Typographer Jean-François Porchez, inventor of the “Le Monde journal” typeface, which he designed for the newspaper in 1994, believes that the typeface Spectral, designed by Jean-Baptiste Levée and sold to Google, is too much inspired by his invention. Claims 450,000 euros in damages to the two opposing parties, reports the media l’Informed.
In 2016, Jean-Baptiste Levée and his company Production Type sold a new font to Google for €65,000. Police Spectral is available from Google Fonts, the search engine’s free font library. He claims to have been inspired by an old edition of Gargantua from 1882.
Except that Jean-François Porchez, Knight of Arts and Letters, is not really of this opinion and emphasizes the resemblance between the two typefaces. His lawyer justified during the hearing: “it is mathematically impossible (…) In the overlap, it is impossible to distinguish them and it is not the result of chance.” Some fifteen printers’ certificates have been added to the archive to emphasize the artistic aspect of the original typeface.
On the side of Jean-Baptiste Levée, his lawyer insists: “Spectral it is not a forgery.” The central question of the trial is an almost artistic debate: Was Jean-Baptiste Levée knowingly inspired or copied his predecessor? Expert reports led to comparisons of each of the letters.
For Google, which represents the second opposing party in this hearing, the resemblance is not evident: “We are desperately looking: where is the reflection of the author’s personality? ‘obvious’, explains Alexandra Neri, Google’s lawyer, during the hearing. The digital giant is also showing its support for French creators, as this collaboration with Jean-Baptiste Levée demonstrates.
According to a Google report, the font of Spectral he would even approach the police Times. The court’s decision will be made in a few weeks.
Source: BFM TV
