Quote:
Originally Posted by Siwi
... can make any colour using hex or RGB values, there is no way things can be copyrighted if it can be shown they existed in the public domain already.
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Anyone can do anything with an RGB triplet, but what businesses like Pantone own (and charge for) is something more complicated. The same RGB (or CMY, for the record) may yield different perceptions in your monitor and mine, or my printer and a professional publisher's, unless complicated gamma correction procedures are applied.
However, if instead of RGB you specify a color with a Pantone code (PMS), wherever it's printed by certified equipment and inks you should get the same result. Using PMS also avoids the problem of RGB/CMY values which cannot be reproduced in screens or printers due to physical constraints.
In other other words, systems like PMS buy convenience and uniformity. There's potential for commercial abuse or lockout (e.g., if government requirements use it instead of open systems), but that's not a functional issue.