The issue is not use of the fonts, the issue is the copying and distribution of the font software which like most software you cant do. Would anyone call a lawsuit that Microsoft or Adobe brought against CBS frivolous for pirating their software?

Fonts contained in word processing applications are licensed by the distributor, just because they're bundled doesn't change anything.

Sure you may think that these typefaces are nothing special, but you are probably not one to appreciate the subtleties of these works or even know the way in which to evaluate them. Some people look at a Ferrari and say "thats nothing special" but they probably don't know anything about cars, and it surely doesn't mean a Ferrari isn't worth it's salt.

The bottom line is that CBS, a company that defends its own intellectual property so vehemently, should pony up the dough for pirating the font software, someone's legally protected intellectual property.

It's really hard for me to take this seriously.

Yes, designing a font is hard. I've done it. But these letters do look generic, and eventually after thousands of fonts have been created, you are going to get some that look alike. Only 26 letters in our alphabet, people. Perhaps you can create a lot from this, but it's not infinite.

Sorry, but I agree this is frivilous.

Actually, both "publicly" and "publically" are accepted spellings of the word.

What? And nobody noticed he said "publically"?
I mean, c'mon, the guy doesn't even know how to use SPELL CHECK. What'd you expect?
(And before anyone decides to lambaste me for my grammar usage, at least I'm not a 'professional writer'.)

While I do believe that NBC should have to pay for their use of the font, I also have noticed that the fonts that they mention are nothing spectacular. There are plenty of fonts in Microsoft Word that look almost identical. Couldn't NBC have striked some sort of a deal with Microsoft. After all that is what the MS, in MSNBC stands for.

How do you not check with a fonts copyright holder before using it? You'd think that's why they'd have a legal department.

2 million? companies could just hire a font designer to work in house to create fonts the company owns (by surreptitiously copying others with slight changes), though i suppose if 2 million is actually small, no font designer would actually take the job knowing they could have made so much more for less work.

yeah, i know, i'm being naive.

"I didn't even know you could be sued for using a certain font. "

Are you f#$%ing kidding me?

They should have asked for more than $2M.

Settle out of court and move on.

I am so tired of petty lawsuits for frivolous things. For crying out loud, it's a letter that you colored in or stretched or manipulated in some way , that doesn't entitle you to claim ownership over said letter! OOOH the letter police are going to come and shut you down because you used the wrong font! Puleease!