Mastodawn

Today Melissa Lewis over on BlueSky pointed out that the font used in the infamous "You wouldn't steal a car" anti-piracy campaign was actually designed by Just van Rossum, whose brother, Guido, created the Python programming language (bsky.app/profile/melissa.news/post/3ln7hx5rhcj2v)

She also pointed out that the font had been cloned and released illegally for free under the name "XBAND Rough". Naturally, it would be hilarious if the anti-piracy campaign actually turned out to have used this pirated font, so I went sleuthing and quickly found a PDF from the campaign site with the font embedded (web.archive.org/web/20051223202935/http://www.piracyisacrime.com:80/press/pdfs/150605_8PP_brochure.pdf).

So I chucked it into FontForge and yep, turns out the campaign used a pirated font the entire time!

Melissa Lewis (@melissa.news)

TIL: The 2000s piracy PSA used a font designed by the fantastic Just van Rossum, whose brother Guido created the Python programming language. https://fontsinuse.com/uses/67480/piracy-it-s-a-crime-psa

Bluesky Social

discodeerdiary.gov Apr 23, 2025

@Rib welp. there's officially no reason for me not to steal a car now.

rezmason Apr 23, 2025

@aisling @Rib Just be careful— if you embed the car in a PDF, someone's gonna find out

@rezmason @aisling @Rib but if you're wearing a seatbelt you shouldn't get (badly) hurt.

I AM BANKSY ☕ / 🗑‍🔥Apr 24, 2025

@aisling
Get in. We're going looting.
@Rib

Zoidberg For President Apr 24, 2025

@aisling @Rib I wouldn't steal a car, because I take public transport.

Now, THAT should be stolen as in, free to use.

digital_star.sys 💾⭐Apr 23, 2025

@Rib FWIW, technically speaking, you can’t really copyright a digital font in that way; to say it was ‘pirated’ isn’t really true. cloned? sure. fully legal? yeah, pretty much

the way font copyright works is that you can copyright the software but not the actual design of the type. in this case, “FF Confidential” is copyrighted as software. If I were to trace it, or make a very very close imitation of it, and then made a digital font out of it myself, it would, in all likelihood, be in the clear

@oracle that's the US law yes, but this was a joint production between the US MPAA and the UK FACT; in the UK font designs are subject to 25 years copyright, and this PDF comes from the UK site. (I also have reason to believe the main ad campaign was made in the UK, since "handbag" and "mobile phone" are used even on some US DVDs).

digital_star.sys 💾⭐Apr 23, 2025

@Rib definitely muddies the water a bit but it would be deeply on brand for this to have been legal in the US and illegal in the UK; I’m not educated enough on how the licensing/copyright situation goes between two different countries

Andreas K Apr 23, 2025

@oracle @Rib IANAL, but nowadays, the country where work is produced/released more or less decides about the protections. Good question if the WTO/WIPO treaties applied back then in 2004 already.

Problem with this is, US exceptionalism, and the US is exceptionally bad at accepting foreign rules even if it signed up that it would follow them.

But it should be enough to embarrass the bastards.

Andreas K Apr 23, 2025

@oracle @Rib As a cynical person, the USA is surprising bad at being a team player (and following international rules) even in the cases where it would be greatly beneficial for the USA to follow these.

Because they are so exceptional, they expect (you know a little bit like the UK aka the British Empire, and China although these guys learned when they were humiliated by the British) that the whole world rotates around Washington, DC. So who cares about international rules, if a good 1/2

Andreas K Apr 23, 2025

headline on FOX can be gained by pissing on the international order? That can work for quite some time, till somebody remarks that the Emperor is naked, and the rest agrees, suddenly the world is only laughing about the weirdo-in-chief. And planning how to work around the USA in their supply chains. 2/2

digital_star.sys 💾⭐Apr 23, 2025

@Rib things become a little murkier when you throw in the concept of font licenses, which are still fairly new (all things considered)

there might be one case of precedent - involving Hasbro and the MLP brand, of all things https://torrentfreak.com/my-little-pony-sued-for-using-a-pirated-font-160125/ - but even then, the smoking gun in that case was the MLP website’s stylesheet explicitly referring and naming to the exact font that was being alleged

"My Little Pony" Sued For Using a Pirated Font * TorrentFreak

Typeface company Font Brothers has filed a lawsuit against Hasbro claiming that My Little Pony uses one of its fonts without permission. According to the complaint, Harbro refuses to pay the required licenses while it continues to use the font in its My Little Pony merchandise and products.

@oracle @Rib didn't the community design it's own for that reason?

Called #CelestiaMediumRedux ...

MrC Apr 23, 2025

@oracle @Rib Fonts count as software and have licenses.

(Source: I've bought thousands for fonts for my day job and have dealt with the fallout when someone uses a font without asking me to license it first)

HighlandLawyer Apr 23, 2025

@oracle @Rib
Citation required.
In the UK typefaces & fonts are copyrighted, with use subject to licence.
Here's .Gov.uk website discussing their own font https://designnotes.blog.gov.uk/2015/03/11/can-i-use-the-gov-uk-fonts/

Making a similar font/typeface from scratch is an entirely different legal issue.

Can I use the GOV.UK fonts? – Design in government

We believe in working in the open. This blog is for designers across government to share their projects, ideas and concepts, or just to think out loud.

Marsh Ray Apr 24, 2025

@oracle @Rib This matches my understanding as well, at least in the US.

The TrueType .ttf file format includes a Turing-complete code environment for, e.g., precise hinting. For the longest time, Adobe would consistently refer to them as “font programs”.

Zoidberg For President Apr 24, 2025

@oracle @Rib Property/copyright is theft anyway so it doesn't matter.

bunhdcomfysleep

@Rib

So they:
- Pirated (commited breach of contract afaik? ) the music;
- Pirated the font;

bigiain Apr 24, 2025

@untsuki Came to post this.

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/was-the-music-in-the-you-wouldnt-steal-a-car-advert-stolen/

Levels of hypocrisy that for a decade have been pushing me towards setting up a torrent box...

Was the music in the ‘You wouldn’t steal a car’ advert stolen?

Delving into the legal questions surrounding the Prodigy-style beats that accompanied the iconic 'You wouldn't steal a car' ad in the 2000s.

Far Out Magazine

pkprotoplasm (MOVED)Apr 23, 2025

@Rib You wouldn’t antialias a car, would you?!

neocat_flag_transbian

Tom Tuddenham Apr 23, 2025

@alice @Rib Hilltop Hoods would #donthappybeworry
https://youtu.be/k7-F3_xDxqM?si=mFOOwDUX_FR6bpRO

Hilltop Hoods - Don’t Happy, Be Worry (Official Video)

YouTube

@alice @Rib looool!

@Rib did you know they also didn't license the song?

Danny Lang Apr 23, 2025

Dylan Rhymes "Naked and Ashamed" amirite...
#BigBeat

Tay Apr 23, 2025

@Rib wait, I though fonts couldn't be copyrighted in the first place?

@tay in UK law they are, the campaign was a joint effort between US/UK copyright agencies, and I believe the ad was most likely produced in the UK

Daarin Apr 23, 2025

@Rib @tay
It doesn't even matter if it was produced in UK, the thing was distributed in UK.

Euphoric BeastBoy Apr 23, 2025

@Rib you should send them an email and ask if they now pay royalty afterwards lmao

dianaisnthere Apr 23, 2025

@Rib they pirated the font and the song, what next? the software to make the video?

@Rib hold up, they stole the music AND the font

Chris Petrilli Apr 23, 2025

@Rib wonder what @justvanrossum thinks of this?

Just van Rossum Apr 23, 2025

@petrillic @Rib That is indeed hilarious!

rk: it’s hyphen-minus actually Apr 23, 2025

Oh yeah. Just van Rossum has done some really cool font work. I love Python, but I also love fonts. It’s a small world.

Ricardus Apr 23, 2025

@Rib Don't copy that floppy.

David JONES Apr 23, 2025

@Rib curiously, this use only recently got written up for FontsInUse https://fontsinuse.com/uses/67480/piracy-it-s-a-crime-psa [edit: where a commentor points out that they stole the music too]

“Piracy. It’s a Crime.” PSA

From Wikipedia: “You Wouldn’t Steal a Car” is the first sentence and commonly used name of a public service announcement that debuted on July 12, 2004 in cinemas, and July 27 on home media, which was part of the anti-copyright infringement campaign “Piracy. It’s a cri

Fonts In Use

evdonia_corner_emblem

Mélani (Melanie) Bjornsdottir (she, ŝi)Apr 23, 2025

@Rib My understanding is that the music is also pirated. https://www.ladbible.com/entertainment/music/you-wouldnt-steal-a-car-anti-piracy-ad-pay-stole-music-240059-20230928 #lang_en

Music from famous 'you wouldn't steal a car' anti-piracy ad was ironically stolen

Agency behind iconic 'you wouldn't steal a car' piracy ad, Buma/Stemra, had to pay £130,000 to composer Melchior Rietveldt because they stole the music

LADbible

Chloé Raccoon Apr 23, 2025

@Rib @baljemmett Good job they stole the music in the ads too...

Nicolás Alvarez Apr 24, 2025

@chloeraccoon No they didn't https://torrentfreak.com/sorry-the-you-wouldnt-steal-a-car-anti-piracy-ad-wasnt-pirated-170625/

Sorry, the "You Wouldn't Steal a Car" Anti-Piracy Ad Wasn't 'Pirated' * TorrentFreak

Who doesn't know the Piracy It's a Crime campaign? You wouldn't steal a car, right? But would you use pirated music for an anti-piracy advert? According to popular belief, this is what the creators of the campaign did, but 'unfortunately' it's not true.

DFYX Apr 23, 2025

@Rib The music in the same campaign may *also* have been pirated: https://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2013/01/29/3678851.htm

(though other sources disagree)

Anti-pirating ad music stolen › Dr Karl's Great Moments In Science (ABC Science)

Paul Henderchristmas Apr 23, 2025

@Rib so the music for the ad campaign was stolen.... the font was stolen.... was the footage made for the ad campaign stolen too?? who made the backgrounds??? we could crack this thing wide open

Dan, the world needs an enema!Apr 23, 2025

@Rib Was it done by AI? In that case it's Okay!

Stuart Longland (VK4MSL)Apr 23, 2025

@WastelandWandrr @Rib I think that campaign was around in the 90s… long before generative AI as we know it today.

G🦡Monkey Apr 23, 2025

@Rib Let's not forget, You Wouldn't Rip Off A Prodigy Song

Sylvhem Apr 23, 2025

@Rib It only gets funnier when you know they also illegally used the music.

Congrats on your discovery!

EDIT: Apparently the music was, in fact, not used illegally. https://torrentfreak.com/sorry-the-you-wouldnt-steal-a-car-anti-piracy-ad-wasnt-pirated-170625/

Sorry, the "You Wouldn't Steal a Car" Anti-Piracy Ad Wasn't 'Pirated' * TorrentFreak

Who doesn't know the Piracy It's a Crime campaign? You wouldn't steal a car, right? But would you use pirated music for an anti-piracy advert? According to popular belief, this is what the creators of the campaign did, but 'unfortunately' it's not true.

Nicolás Alvarez Apr 24, 2025

@Sylvhem No they didn't https://torrentfreak.com/sorry-the-you-wouldnt-steal-a-car-anti-piracy-ad-wasnt-pirated-170625/

Sorry, the "You Wouldn't Steal a Car" Anti-Piracy Ad Wasn't 'Pirated' * TorrentFreak

Who doesn't know the Piracy It's a Crime campaign? You wouldn't steal a car, right? But would you use pirated music for an anti-piracy advert? According to popular belief, this is what the creators of the campaign did, but 'unfortunately' it's not true.

Sylvhem Apr 24, 2025

@nicolas17 My mistake! Thank you for sharing that article.

Mark T. Tomczak Apr 23, 2025

@Rib Whenever anyone gets on about the need for strong copyright protection for artists, I'm reminded of the fact that we don't even know the name of the original composer of the Superman theme because it was bought from someone in France for a spot-payment and the studio didn't even record their name.

Copyright has worked as a weapon both for and against artists for ages.

Dr Ro Smith Apr 23, 2025

@Rib amazing. May I screenshot your post to share elsewhere? (I'll link back.)

@Rhube of course!

Dr Ro Smith Apr 23, 2025

@Rib thank you!

Shoestring Budget Console Cowboy Apr 23, 2025

@Rib what else aren't they telling us? *tightens tinfoil*

lonely extrovert Apr 23, 2025

@Rib THIS IS SO BEAUTIFUL

polprog68k Apr 23, 2025

@Rib afaik the music in the videoclip was also distributed pirately, it was contracted just to be shown at some film festival and instead was duplicated millions of times on DVDs. or so ive heard

Nicolás Alvarez Apr 24, 2025

@gorplop That was a different ad https://torrentfreak.com/sorry-the-you-wouldnt-steal-a-car-anti-piracy-ad-wasnt-pirated-170625/

Sorry, the "You Wouldn't Steal a Car" Anti-Piracy Ad Wasn't 'Pirated' * TorrentFreak

Who doesn't know the Piracy It's a Crime campaign? You wouldn't steal a car, right? But would you use pirated music for an anti-piracy advert? According to popular belief, this is what the creators of the campaign did, but 'unfortunately' it's not true.

vandorb12 Apr 23, 2025

@Rib THE LORE EXPANDS!

crispy branzino ☭ (sold out forever)Apr 23, 2025

@Rib if youre just now seeing capitalist propaganda in a hypocritic light buddy youre not gonna believe the foreign policy it shoots for...

Colbeala Moghes Apr 23, 2025

@Rib That's actually really fucking hilarious holy shit lmao