Using fonts from illustrator in a logo

Question

Are you free to use fonts from illustrator/photoshop in business logo's?

Answer 1

On behalf of Adobe Systems Incorporated ...
This (that “you can copy and send the fonts for a reproduction house for the sole purpose of reproducing that particular piece or job”) is absolutely not true! In fact it is not true for any of Adobe's fonts!
What is true is that your ability to send, share, or even embed fonts is dependent upon the EULA (End User License Agreement) for each and every font you use in your content. And, by the way, any restrictions in the EULA legally override any embedding permissions that might be set in the font itself for TrueType and OpenType fonts!
Other than for fonts that are explicitly labeled as public domain or freeware, it is exceptionally uncommon for any font foundry – and that includes Adobe and Monotype (Monotype now includes Linotype, ITC, and Bitstream) – to permit licensees to simply package and send fonts along with the base document (Illustrator .AI, InDesign .INDD, etc.) and other digital assets to a print service provider with one exception. That exception – and that exception is not universal but does apply to fonts licensed from Adobe – is that such fonts may be sent to a print service provider as long as the print service provider is also licensed for those fonts. Well, what good is that you may ask? The reason for this is that there are subtle differences between versions of fonts released over time including improvements and corrections. Adobe does allow users to make local modifications of fonts as well while maintaining actually ownership of the fonts. To deal with both these cases, Adobe does allow fonts to be sent with original source files to print service providers if and only if the print service provider also has a license for such fonts. The need for such a license is exactly why Adobe markets its Font Folio product to print service providers; it fulfills the licensing requirement for their customers sending original documents with fonts to them either for reproduction and/or editing.
One of the reasons why Adobe has been so much behind PDF workflows is that for many fonts (including all those licensed from Adobe), you may embed the fonts in the PDF files you create from you content, send the resultant PDF file to your print service provider for reproduction or to a publication for embedding in their content (such as for advertisements) and neither you nor the recipient needs to pay any further licensing fee.
However, you should note one further restriction. Some font foundries (including all the font brands of Monotype) allow for fonts to be embedded in PDF files, but except for private distribution of such PDF files (including to print service providers and publishers), requirement additional royalty payments for distribution of PDF files in which their fonts are embedded! Note that Adobe has no such restrictions on any fonts the fonts it licenses!
I know that the above information may conflict with both what many in the industry practice and believe is true, but those licenses are indeed legally enforceable. We are in fact aware of font foundries that run webbots looking for PDF files with their fonts embedded for which royalties have not been paid. The fact that many content providers and print service providers have blatantly ignored the font licenses in the past does not provide a tenable legal excuse for ignoring font licenses now.
          - Dov
PS:     To address the original question in this thread, you may use the fonts provided with any Adobe software in your content such as logos (even if they are created with non-Adobe software while you are licensed for the Adobe software) and you may distribute such artwork to others with the fonts as long as that is distributed in the form of either PDF files or EPS files with the fonts embedded. (Adobe most strongly recommends PDF over EPS for modern, reliable workflows!)