Typography legal question?

I am working a logo for someone and their site is based on a current popular video game.
The title of their site has the video games title in it and I have worked up a font that resembles very closely the games font, but is in fact created by me.
I am hoping someone here might know the legal ins and outs of doing such a thing?
Is it still risking copyright infringement if the font resembles but is not that of another company?
And otherwise, how far must one change their font before it is then free and clear to be used in this manner?
Thanks for your help!

You're seeking legal advice, and for that you are best off talking to a lawyer. I'm not a lawyer, and don't even play one on TV. I can recommend some good lawyers who specialize in this general area, notably Frank Martinez (http://www.martinezgroup.com).
My lay understanding of these things is that the answer depends on several things, including what legal jurisdiction you're in, the vintage of the original typeface, and what legal protections were sought for it in the first place. For example, in the USA, the abstract design of a typeface is only protected if a design patent is obtained. Because of the costs involved, very few typefaces have such protection (as far as I know Adobe is the only foundry to routinely do so, and only in the past 15 years). European countries may often offer greater protection to the abstract design of a typeface, however.
The actual digital font files are regarded as subject to copyright in the US and apparently in many other countries. But if you didn't start with somebody else's digital file, I imagine you'd be safe on that score.
See also: http://blogs.adobe.com/typblography/2006/01/legal_protectio.html
Now, there's a separate question in my mind about getting too close to the appearance of the trademarked logo of the video game... but you haven't really told us enough for anybody to tell if that could be an issue.
Regards,
T

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If I rip a CD or DVD into iTunes and someone copies it out, isn't that making an illegal copy?
RIPping of commercial, encrypted DVDs (most of them) is illegal to begin with. Or rather, breaking the encryption on a DVD is illegal and in order to RIP the DVD, you must break the encryption. SO you have already "broken the law" by having a copy on your computer.
Most of my CDs and DVDs contain notices and warnings against distributing copies.
Most of your DVDs have a notice about even simply making a copy, not only distributing copies.
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This is exactly what Napster was and why they were sued & shut down.
I imagine Apple lawyers have done their homework as well as consulted with the labels to discuss these exact issues.
And it's called "Home Sharing" to indicate that it is not "Dorm Sharing" or "Workplace Sharing", or even simply "Library Sharing"etc. even though it may be possible to use it in other places than the Home.
Users on other computers need to know your iTunes ID and password to enable it Home Sharing. Likely this is how Apple got the lables to be okay with it.
Are you gonna give (and get) dozens/hundreds/thousands/any other users your iTunesID & password?
You can contact Apple Legal here -> http://www.apple.com/legal

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>
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