> Copyright law does not protect typeface or mere variations of typographical ornamentation or lettering. A typeface is a set of letters, numbers, or other characters with repeating design elements that is intended to be used in composing text or other combinations of characters, including calligraphy. Generally, typeface, fonts, and lettering are building blocks of expression that are used to create works of authorship. The Office cannot register a claim to copyright in typeface or mere variations of typographic ornamentation or lettering, regardless of whether the typeface is commonly used or unique.

Given the incredible amount of work that goes into designing a typeface I find that really surprising.

Wikipedia has some good coverage on this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property_protecti...

Apparently you CAN protect the implementation of a typeface, e.g. the font file itself. Wikipedia says:

> Typefaces and their letter forms are considered utilitarian objects whose public utility outweighs any private interest in protecting their creative elements under US law, but the computer program that is used to display a typeface, a font file[a] of computer instructions in a domain-specific programming language may be protectable by copyright. In 1992, the US Copyright Office determined that digital outline fonts had elements that could be protected as software[13] if the source code of the font file "contains a sufficient amount of original authorship".