Hasbro Sued For Alleged Font Misuse
Designing a font is a tough task that a lot of us take for granted. As it turns out Hasbro have allegedly been taking it for granted in a big way and are now being sued for it.
The font in question is called ‘Generation B;, created by Minneapolis based company FontBros. They describe it as a “playful and offbeat” font inspired by the opening title of The Parent Trap. It’s an all-caps serif font with large and small versions of each glyph. If you wanted to use Generation B in a non-public capacity, a license would cost you $20.
The cost goes up based on how many people are likely to see it. For example, an ebook license costs $50 and a mobile app is $200. For large-scale use, customers have to contact FontBros to work out a deal, but Hasbro, it’s claimed, do not seem to have done this.
On the surface Hasbro looks to have used the above font in its My Little Pony website and marketing but this doesn’t appear to just be a case of mistaken identity though as Hasbro’s website indicates otherwise. Internet archives still hold a copy of the old CSS style sheet listing the webpage font as ‘Generation B’.
FontBros contacted Hasbro about the alleged piracy, but the company refused to license the font. So, now there’s a lawsuit. FontBros is asking for $150,000 per infringement, which would run into the millions if the case goes to court and Hasbro loses.