Based on my reading, you’re not wrong, but the question is about typefaces, not fonts. Fonts are software for using typefaces in a digital medium. I seem to recall that as a result one can use a font to print out a typeface, scan it in, reimplement it from the image to create a new font and that’s then considered a separate font for the purposes of copyright law.
…which sounds insane, so perhaps that loophole has been closed since I read it.
Legally, there is no copyright infringement here. Typefaces can’t be protected by copyright in the United States and only enjoy limited protection elsewhere.
So whether the letter forms are identical makes no difference because there is no copyright protection.
In the USofA a font is considered software. You cannot duplicate commercial software without violating the law.
Based on my reading, you’re not wrong, but the question is about typefaces, not fonts. Fonts are software for using typefaces in a digital medium. I seem to recall that as a result one can use a font to print out a typeface, scan it in, reimplement it from the image to create a new font and that’s then considered a separate font for the purposes of copyright law.
…which sounds insane, so perhaps that loophole has been closed since I read it.
It’s a bit more than that. The letterforms can’t be identical, which a scan would produce. The best example is Arial, a copy of Helvetica.
https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2024/04/25/is-arial-a-plagiarism-of-helvetica/
The article contradicts your point:
So whether the letter forms are identical makes no difference because there is no copyright protection.