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Public Domain Fonts

This repository mainly focuses on public domain CJK fonts and (nearly) pan-Unicode fonts.

I own none of these fonts and scripts, however they are all confirmed to be dedicated to the public domain.

If something here is not in the public domain, please create an issue.

Public Domain-Equivalent Licenses

This list is not exhaustive.

• CC0
• 0BSD
• MIT-0
• WTFPL
• Unlicense
• mplus Font License

What is NOT Public Domain

• ntukai48, from cjk-fonts, mentions "These fonts must not be used for any commercial activities."
• Older versions of j83-32 from gnu-intlfonts are actually derived from Watanabe which is known for plagiarising the proprietary font TypeBank Mincho-M. The newer versions of j83-32 and j83-48 in gnu-intlfonts consists of merely an upscaled jiskan16 and an upscaled jiskan24 with no other difference. (The older versions of j83-48 is assumed to be from JIS, so it is kept here.)
• Though a version of the Huiwen Mincho font file states "Public Domain", the longer license summaries on Zhihu and Maoken state that the fonts cannot be resold nor reuploaded for commercial purposes. The license of the Huiwen fonts is actually similar to (and compatible with) the OFL; this was proven by the creator of the fonts, and is reflected via the licenses of CooperZhengKai and Planschrift.
  • "本字体文件开源且免费商用,禁止第三方在任何平台以任何方式用此字体牟利。如果您用付费方式获得了此字体文件,请找卖家退款"
• All et- and taipei- fonts are not in the public domain, contrary to the "Public Domain" statement in the fonts themselves. This includes taipei16, taipei24, and taipei(k,l,m)24, all of which are previously thought to be in the public domain.
  • "Redistributing fonts file of taipei* and et* is prohibited. All taipei* and et* are protected by copyright law so any commerical use is also prohibited." Source: https://www.ibiblio.org/pub/packages/ccic/software/fonts/big5/bdf/etenb5.ftpsite
• The CMEX Big5+ (a.k.a. big5p or cmex24m.bdf) fonts are licensed under MIT, despite the files saying "Public Domain".
• hanja65, from cjk-fonts, derives from HLaTeX-0.92e, which is not under the public domain.
• cns40 (and its 24px variant), from cjk-fonts and formerly in gnu-intlfonts, is probably licensed under the Open Government Data License.
• The Mona font uses outlines from the Wadalab fonts, which are licensed under the 3-clause BSD license.

Uncertainties

See dubious.

Other Relevant Notes

• cjk-fonts on CTAN claims to be fully public domain, but this claim cannot be verified for all included fonts, and some fonts are blatantly not in the public domain (see ntukai48).
• gnu-intlfonts is a collection of libre fonts, but they are not necessarily in the public domain.