When Apple released WatchKit in November giving developers time to prepare apps for the upcoming Apple Watch, it included the custom San Francisco font displayed on the Watch. Shortly after, instructions appeared on GitHub showing how to install the San Francisco font from the Apple Watch onto a Mac with OS X Yosemite since Apple changed the system font from Lucida Grande to Helvetica.
Unfortunately (but unsurprisingly), it appears that someone (Apple?) has forced that project to be removed from GitHub citing copyright issues since Apple owns the San Francisco font and distributes it only for use with Apple Watch, due out in April.
The page now reads: “This repository is currently disabled due to a DMCA takedown notice.” A copy of the apparent takedown notice shared here is available below:
Dear GitHub Copyright Agent:
I, the undersigned, state UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY that:
[1] I am a person injured, or an agent authorized to act on behalf of a person injured by a violation of the U.S. Copyright laws, in particular section 501 of Title 17 of the United States Code, commonly referred to as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or “DMCA”;
[2] I May Be Contacted At:
Name of Injured Party : APPLE INC. Name and Title: [private], ASSOCIATE Company: KILPATRICK TOWNSEND AND STOCKTON LLP Address: TWO EMBARCADERO CENTER, 8TH FLOOR City, State, and Zip: SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 94111 Email address APPLE_COPYRIGHT@KILPATRICKTOWNSEND.COMAPPLE_COPYRIGHT@KILPATRICKTOWNSEND.COM Telephone: 415-576-0200 Fax: 415-576-0300
[3] I have a good faith belief that the files identified below (by URL) are unlawful under these laws because, among other things, the links offer to distribute copies of Apple’s copyrighted works;
[4] Content Type: Software packages that generate Apple’s “San Francisco” font Violation(s): Copyright Infringement
[5] Please act expeditiously to remove the file-downloads found at the following URLs:
https://github.com/wellsriley/YosemiteSanFranciscoFont
[6] I have a good faith belief that the distribution of the copyrighted work identified above is not authorized by law; and
[7] The information in this notice is accurate.
Thank you for your kind assistance.
Truthfully,
/[private/
Thanks AJ!
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too late…
Lol, what did they expect? It clearly states in the developer agreement that you are not allowed to distribute it – especially since it’s not even finalized.
Duh, publishing someone else’s software for redistribution without agreeing to the license terms is always going to be a problem. That’s how both open source and close source work. That’s how copyright works. Whoever posted it is either (1) really stupid or (2) knew that they were violating Apple’s rights.
I wonder, if you could change the system font to San Francisco, is there a way to get the old font back (from Mavericks and before)?
Try LucidaGrandeYosemite. https://github.com/schreiberstein/lucidagrandeyosemite
They should replace Helvetica with San Francisco on the next Mac OS. It looks much cleaner.
It was designed for small screens though… OS X runs on fairly large screens.