Wikipedia:Logo Copyright/Trademark/Typeface

Various rules limit the protection of copyright under United States law for related sets of fonts known as typefaces.

Definition
"Typeface" is a term defined by the House Report of the 1976 revision of the Copyright Act as follows: Common vernacular terms such as "font" and "text" are, therefore, generally analogous to "typeface".

Copyright eligibility
Works with an "intrinsic [utilitarian] function" are not eligible for copyright; per the Code of Federal Regulations: For example, the design of any given car contains a substantial amount of effort, creativity and other artistic input. The artistic elements, however, cannot be separated from the vehicle and cannot exist independently. A car, therefore, is considered a "useful article" ineligible for copyright. Typeface is also considered a "useful article".
 * Eltra Corp. v. Ringer sets forth:


 * United States Code Congressional and Administrative News  sets forth:


 * The United States Copyright Office sets forth:

There appears to be a misconception on Wikipedia and the Commons that only standard/publicly-available/etc typefaces (e.g. Times New Roman font, Verdana font, etc.) are ineligible for copyright protection. There is no support for this belief. If text falls within the definition of typeface above, it is generally not considered eligible for copyright; no consideration is given to prevalence or dispensation.

Examples
Consider the following images:

Both logos are stylized (i.e. contain artistic input): The IBM logo contains a striped pattern; and the Coca-Cola logo consists of a relatively ornate/stylized letter design. Both logos employ different colors. Despite the obvious artistic input, these logos are still "set[s] of letters...whose forms are related by repeating design elements...intended to be embodied in articles, whose intrinsic utilitarian function is for use in composing text or other cognizable combinations of characters." Indeed, they are typefaces and thus, per the above, ineligible for copyright. "Mere variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering, or coloring" are not generally eligible for copyright protection.