“You wouldn’t steal a car” anti-piracy campaign may have used pirated fonts

Digging into archived site points to use of questionable text styling.

Apr 27, 2025 - 12:38
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“You wouldn’t steal a car” anti-piracy campaign may have used pirated fonts

You wouldn't steal a car, right? So you shouldn't pirate a movie, either.

That was the gist of the infamous "You Wouldn't Steal a Car" anti-piracy campaign from the Motion Picture Association of America during the mid-2000s. But questions are now being asked about just how carefully the MPAA followed its own anti-piracy principles when designing the campaign. Specifically: Did the MPAA rip off a key font?

The answer to that question is, like many matters involving typefaces, fonts, and copyright, somewhat complicated.

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