Copyright agency 'in infringement gaffe'

A French government agency set up to deal with copyright infringements by filesharers has been accused of designing a logo using unlicensed fonts.

The 'Hadopi' logo unveiled last week by minister of culture and communication Frédéric Mitterrand reportedly borrows from a font called Bienvenue.

This typeface was created in 2000 by France Telecom employee Jean-François Porchez, who confirmed that the 'd' and 'p' had been modified and other letters stretched, but said that the changes were not enough to make it a new design.

Logo creators Plan Créatif confirmed the rights violation and told Numerama that it had been a result of an "error of manipulation".

Julien L from the news site told TorrentFreak: "The problem is, this font was an 'exclusive corporate typeface'. It couldn't be used for other purposes than France Telecom-Orange products."

Hadopi has sourced matching fonts that can be licensed legally and while France Telecom-Orange said it will not take legal action, Porchez has contacted his lawyer.