In 2004, the well-known anti-piracy public service announcement, “You Wouldn’t Steal a Car,” made a strong appeal to discourage illegal downloading of movies and music. This campaign aimed to raise awareness about copyright infringement and its implications. Interestingly, the campaign did not utilize the original font “FF Confidential,” which was designed by Just van Rossum in 1992.
This font requires licensing for commercial use. Instead, it appears that the anti-piracy message relied on a free clone known as “XBAND Rough.” Created in 1996 by Catapult Entertainment, XBAND Rough mimics FF Confidential but does not carry the same legal restrictions. Identifying the differences between the two fonts can be subtle, and TorrentFreak warns against making direct assumptions.
The possibility remains that the campaign could have used a licensed version of FF Confidential, despite the apparent use of XBAND Rough. Just van Rossum, the original font creator, expressed his mixed feelings about the revelation. He acknowledged that while he was aware of his font’s involvement in the campaign, he was surprised to learn that the clone XBAND Rough had been used instead of the legitimately licensed FF Confidential.
He found the situation to be quite amusing. Despite the light-hearted nature of his comments, van Rossum has no intentions of pursuing the matter further since he is no longer the official distributor of the font. Currently, the licensing for FF Confidential is managed by Monotype, a leading font company.
This turn of events highlights the complexities of font usage in public campaigns and the ongoing conversation around copyright and intellectual property.