Are we allowed to use some emojis that were inserted in an app from Apple’s iPhone keyboard and import the result into Final Cut Pro adding other effects to the footage and posting it on YouTube?

The really weird thing about *that* font — I didn't think anything would ever come of it. It's butt-ugly. It was just "practice", but I put it up because it was really different than anything else (at the time). It got "picked up" by a contributor to MacWorld magazine and all of a sudden... it was "legitimized" ("Cheap Laser Fonts" http://fxmahoney.com/resume/macworld1087p87p89.png). If you look around, you can find a lot of knockoffs... Sometimes I just don't "get" what some people are going to like... Maybe you can imagine, how stunned I was to see it on TV!

Now if you read that article, there is mention of two fonts I made back then: Calligraphic and Times Fractions. They were shareware, so I'm not sure if that made them commercial or not (shareware is based on contributions to basically "keep up the good work" and not so much a purchase of a product). Anyway, those fonts were "resident" inside the printer. My fonts basically rearranged some of the letters to create a different effect. I didn't explicitly "copy" the character "programming" (PostScript). The software I used allowed for "composite characters". Copyright infringement? Possibly. But they only had value to those individuals who had access to the specific hardware (LaserWriter/LaserWriter Plus); everybody know which fonts they actually were; etc... I never heard anything from anyone about it — and it was published right there in black and white for everyone to read. Of course the 1980's were the "wild west" where computers and software were concerned. Sometimes it seems like it's a new world every day... and it just keeps getting more complicated.

Emoji Crack looks like a decent app!

... and basically what I said: put the credits in the video! [It should have been enough for whatever emoji you used.]

At least you are conscientious enough to go through the trouble! 99.9% of the world wouldn't even bother.

Good luck with your videos! Knock 'em dead! (I'm gettin' old... I don't even know if you can say that anymore... LOL)

You're dating yourself...LOL. Me too. I started with a Timex/Sinclair 1000; BASIC, machine language !!!! (I absolutely LOVED the z80). When IBM went with the Intel 8088 (what an mediocre chip!) I went to Apple IIe. Also BASIC and machine language. When the Mac came around - BASIC and Pascal, then C... I never could stand C++. To this day I think it was junk. I had already "invented" my own object oriented programming inside C. I could also use it to write Assembly language (I was writing low level "drivers" for MIDI applications.) Then the internet went public and I switched over to Java (first!) then Javascript, then PHP... That's about where I stopped, although I did pull off an adaptation of a Perl script once. I wish I could bring myself to spend some time with ObjC... I have a couple of things I'd really love to have for Motion, but I just cannot bring myself to dive in. It's worse (to me) than C++.

I'll drop you a line — I'd like to see what your video is about.

Happy New Year! Thanks for the wish — may you have the same!

Fox

(This is a long response, so I've had to split it into two posts — )

Part 1:

First of all — your lawyer is into it for money! Of course he's going to tell you to jump through hoops.

Second, as far as I can tell, emoji have not acquired intellectual property rights. Any emoji you *buy* may be the same infringement on Apple's (Color) Emoji... which seems to be somewhat original depending on how close it comes (and why else would you be using it?)

Third, emoji are implemented as part of the Unicode Character set (that is: "type") and there are arguments as to whether emoji are an emerging set of language characters — having meaning, in which case, that enforces the case for "type", characters, letterforms. I have not heard any news about any company going after those rights (they'd be stupid.) Emoji are too much a part of the current culture worldwide — and if something is in that "common use", it's hard to scoop a copyright on it. (The United States Supreme Court has shut down most efforts to copyright things that are considered "common use".)

As far as I know (and this goes back a l-o-o-o-o-o-ng way) Apple has never gone after anyone who legally obtains their software for copyright infringement. They had a pretty nasty scuffle with Microsoft awhile back (and deservedly so! I read the Windows programming manual — it was almost word for word the same as Inside Macintosh! They still lost.)

Furthermore, Apple provides sufficient user materials for you to make use of the Apple brand which reinforces their marketing standing. There was a time when you could not see a local attorney's television advertising without hearing Apple Loops in the background — no credit in the ad, BTW. (I'd watch for it) — and that's from attorneys.

Finally, Apple doesn't really make any money from emoji, per se. They make their money selling hardware (iPhones, etc.) that utilize emoji (they were the first to include an emoji keyboard for texting.) Apple does not sell Emoji Character sets. You are not selling their emoji (of course, they're not giving it away either...). There is "no harm" (that I can see) if you use Apple's Emoji in your videos. "No harm" is a pretty big deal in copyright disputes.

One final way to determine whether or not you will have an issue: Publish the video. If there's a copyright problem, YouTube and some of these other services will tell you (and give you a chance to take it down, or give up your monetization of the video... been there... done that!) One thing I would recommend though — if you have misapprehension about this: PUT THE CREDIT FOR THE USE IN YOUR VIDEO: Emoji Character images/set provided by Apple, Inc. or something like that. That does more for Apple than them squabbling over your use for the emojis they put in your hands for free. You should credit everything you haven't personally created *anyway*! (But if you're consulting lawyers... you already know that.) You cannot credit anything OUTSIDE your video, as in comments, About or Description sections... it doesn't count. OH! And put your © notice IN the video as well. Credits state your right to use the content you used and the copyright takes any problems the hosting services might have for their liability away from them. Have guts.

Now, if you were creating software for any kind of distribution in which you were going to place the Apple Color Emoji font... then you'd be in some trouble. I wanted to use the San Francisco Display font for a couple of FCPX Templates I created, but the developer's licensing agreement made it pretty clear I couldn't. It's basically the same thing: San Francisco is provided free with the Mac OS (but Apple made that particular font an OS only System font.) And, whereas I was able to find this information for San Francisco — I still cannot find anything similar for Apple Color Emoji font. Using the font that way (to be included with something else) is a whole other kettle of fish.

One more thing: I've been in several (not a lot) copyright disputes over the years. Almost always, the "offended" party gives you an opportunity to "Cease and Desist" before taking any further legal action. In my experience, it has usually been rather cordial as well. (US Olympic Committee asked me to cease and desist on my FREE Pyeong Chang 2018 Olympics font which I considered "fandom" and they saw it as a possible hit on their promotional items income. — Okay, I didn't think of it from that perspective at the time. I immediately apologized — I hadn't intended any harm to their business — and complied and that was all there was to it.) I still use it as an informational example here: https://fcpxtemplates.com/about-fonts-made-for-3d/ but the font itself is not available to anyone anymore (a few people got it before I pulled it).

... end of part 1

If I remember correctly, you only lose the monetization from the view count at which youtube "pulls" it — not before. They *never* asked for any of the money I made back or told me they were going to deduct it. However, *YouTube* did change the rules for monetization and I no longer get paid *anything* for any and all of my videos (I don't have enough people watching enough Hours a year) so there may be a possibility they changed something about that as well.

Have you tried to ask them??

I just did a search for this and most of what YouTube talks about is *audio* content (no surprise there). They also mention (and this was new to me) that *any portion of your video with a content ID match cannot be monetized* which means that, unless the emoji are in your video for the entire duration, they will only disallow those portions that are being contested. If you're just using them for a few seconds here and there — not a big deal. Plus, they are saying you can go into your video online and trim out sections that contain the content matches. So, I don't think you have a lot to worry about several months down the road.

There's two things here:

Apple's more or less basic End User Licensing Agreements:

You can use anything they provide with permission. Emojis are provided.

You cannot distribute any of the content they provide because it *might* belong to third party vendors (Apple is really cool about paying for the licensing of stuff for you — it's all rolled into the purchase price of the software, or in this case, the hardware/OS).

Make your video hard to contest. Place that Copyright (even if you are eventually wrong, it was your understanding when you made the video that you had the rights to use the content!) and specify the credit information. Nobody can come back and say you were using such and such *other* similar software and the hosting providers (YouTube, Vimeo, et al) have NO liability since the © information places ALL the responsibility on you. This is exactly how you want it.

From what I've seen on the videos I've looked at, YouTube is trying very hard to protect its users from "frivolous" copyright claims. (https://www.youtube.com/user/YouTubeHelp/search?query=copyright+claims+and+monetization).

They also seem to be more flexible than they used to be about how much of the monetization you will be able to keep if there is a claim... that did not exist when I was getting paid. It used to be all or nothing. They also tell you you can simply remove only those sections that might be a problem (online Studio editor) — maybe you can just cover them — but you don't have to take down the entire video!

Have faith! Don't rely on just one video. Keep producing and build a loyal audience. Be adaptable if stuff does hit the fan... One hit isn't going to end your YouTube career. Strikes can be removed so take care of them expeditiously and keep going.

Glad to hear you're making money at it!

I still can't figure out what the fuss is... because: Apple did not invent emoji, they just facilitated its distribution world wide.

Emoji are exactly like modern day hieroglyphics or pictographs (image characters). They were invented in Japan *** over 100 years ago*** (1882).

The Unicode consortium has codified them. They are a part of the system of text used world wide for all languages.

Emoji are a language. You can't copyright that. And you can't monetize it.

So now what it comes down to is who drew the bloody pictographs? Who cares. I still liken it to a font. Who cares what font you use to place text in anything. Garamond, Times, Palatino, Verdana... it doesn't matter as long as you get the point across. And you don't have to specify the font, the foundry, none of it!

There is the point of How the "artform" gets used and that can cause some problems if your use of the image is negative and the image is easily identifiable as the work of a particular individual or company... This is where I get lost...

Back in 1987, when I first started designing fonts for the Apple LaserWriter, I was just learning to use the software (Fontographer -- back when it was Altsys from Richardson TX). I was talking with my mother on the phone and not really paying very much attention to the actual software - just using straight lines. I came up with a font I would name Cuneifont:

Long history: Shareware — ripped off — copied — lost control of it. I'm not rich so... I've gotta take it.

Back in 2013, I'm watching Fox News Channel late night and there's this show called Red Eye.... and I'm looking at that logo and thinking — I'll bet that's my font!

https://youtu.be/6xxiXOmCcWg

Sure enough.

Am I going to sue Fox (and Greg Gutfeld?) You know? What's the point? They didn't ask permission, but I get how they probably came by it as a "descendant" of when I lost control of it in the 90's — they didn't know who to ask permission from and probably assumed it was in the public domain (it's not!). And any other emoji font you would attempt to purchase may be the same situation? There used to be a lot of people that would make a lot of quick money copying fonts, renaming them and selling them as theirs. The only way to really tell is to find the original font creation files and match *every control point to every control point*. I have never heard that being done (in a legal setting). The most I've ever seen are the "pirates" admitting what they had done. So you can't even be sure of what you're buying (if that's the route you choose.)

But yeah — if that's the stand people are going to take — you are basically hosed.

I'd rather use ASCII ;) 8-)