Berne Convention 11. It is evident that the United States copyright position is anomalous with the position in other parts of the developed world. The United States has held herself out as a leader in intellectual property when it comes to software, yet neglects typeface design. However, similar creative issues apply. The United States' obligations under the Berne Convention, now that she is a signatory, is to respect the copyright on fonts, if such copyright exists in the countries they were designed in.
Fonts designed outside the United States become subject to protection as artistic works.
Moral rights 13. Additionally, European and Commonwealth copyright laws increasingly recognize the moral right in designs. European jurisdictions rank the moral right ahead of economic rights. This case was fought in contract and shows the difficulties of using non-intellectual property analyses in what should have been an IP case. In US jurisprudence, it is very likely that Eltra v. Ringer will be distinguished, lessening its persuasiveness, but this is hardly enough to bring the United States into line with the rest of the world.