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Topic: MP3 Licensing (Read 8675 times) previous topic - next topic
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MP3 Licensing

I've got an almost-finished open-source utility that makes (among other formats) MP3 files using Lame. My question is, do I need to pay for licensing? My understanding, at least from reading Wikipedia, is that all the MP3 patents have pretty much expired, so I should be able to include a Lame binary safely.

I emailed Technicolor (http://mp3licensing.com/) to ask, and received no reply. I realize that this is not sufficient to avoid a lawsuit down the road, however!

Does anyone have better or more complete information? I suppose if it is to be sold internationally, the laws in all patent-honoring countries must be considered. I'm Canadian.

MP3 Licensing

Reply #1 –
Theres a handful of (highly) questionable patents that are still valid, so I think in theory you're supposed to pay, at least in some jurisdictions. 

In practice, if you're not selling a product, I doubt they really care.

MP3 Licensing

Reply #2 –
As long as you don't supply the lame binary with your utility you should be OK.

MP3 Licensing

Reply #3 –
Quote
In practice, if you're not selling a product, I doubt they really care.
Actually, they do care and they might come after you if you distribute an MP3 encoder.

The official LAME website distributes the source code, but a compiled-working encoder is not available directly from the official website.

Audacity is free (it's not "sold").  Audacity works with LAME, but it's not included with the download and it's not available directly from Audacity because they want to stay out of trouble.  They do provide a link to another website where you can download it.  I think that website is located in Argentina.    Rarewares.org also hosts lame downloads and they are apparently located in Brazil.

MP3 Licensing

Reply #4 –
I decided to just distribute the binaries for convenience, and see what happens. Worst case, I might get a take-down request.

MP3 Licensing

Reply #5 –
Quote from: Jebus on
I decided to just distribute the binaries for convenience, and see what happens. Worst case, I might get a take-down request.

Link?

MP3 Licensing

Reply #7 –
Quote from: Jebus on
I posted it in the news section. It's pending moderation.

https://github.com/jherby2k/AudioShell/releases/latest

I live in Canada and work for a law firm, so I think I'm in good shape

Good, thanks. Just FYI, there is an app already called AudioShell (not that this matters to anything): http://www.softpointer.com/AudioShell.htm

And, I won't test anything that doesn't come in portable, not that you should care about this either, just another FYI

MP3 Licensing

Reply #8 –
Quote from: eahm on
Quote from: Jebus on
I posted it in the news section. It's pending moderation.

https://github.com/jherby2k/AudioShell/releases/latest

I live in Canada and work for a law firm, so I think I'm in good shape

Good, thanks. Just FYI, there is an app already called AudioShell (not that this matters to anything): http://www.softpointer.com/AudioShell.htm

And, I won't test anything that doesn't come in portable, not that you should care about this either, just another FYI 


Yeah, oops! It's not commercial though, so who cares.

You mean without an installer? You could certainly just xcopy the files over, provided the location is in your powershell path and the prerequisites are installed. If it's just a matter of not trusting installers (I get that, to a degree), you can easily compile it or review the source code provided. If I make a zip version available, it's going to result in support headaches. (I worked as a packager at my previous job )

MP3 Licensing

Reply #9 –
Quote from: DVDdoug on
....  Rarewares.org also hosts lame downloads and they are apparently located in Brazil.

Roberto is a Brazilian national, I'm  a Brit and we're actually hosted in the US.  Just for the record!