Gustin Johnson wrote: > Ralf Mardorf wrote: > > Gustin Johnson wrote: > >> WMV is probably the worst format you could possibly work with. > > Full acknowledge, but if you do some ironic political video project, you > > need to use video material from the internet. > > > If you say so. None of my friends in broadcasting use this codec, for > fun or for profit.
But a lot of videos in the internet are using this container and codec. I won't use this codec myself, but I need to convert some material. > >> The > >> Debian Multimedia folks have codecs for this format, but there may be > >> legal issues regarding the use of their packages. The > responsibility is > >> yours to determine if or which formats/packages may violate local laws. > > In Germany this isn't a problem. It's not allowed, but tolerated by the > > law. German judges hate the complete computer problem, e.g. also if a > > lawyer wants to know something about an IP, because someone illegal has > > uploaded cracks. No judge will give the permission to do research about > > There are so many differences between each region and each region can be > complex. Here in Canada we pay a tax on blank media (cassettes, VHS, > CDR, DVD-R, DV, etc.) which goes towards the Canadian version of RIAA > and MPAA. For Germany we have the GEMA Mafia. If you buy a DAT tape for audio recordings, most of the money is taken by the GEMA, but if you buy a DAT tape for data, you don't have to pay that fee. Many studios I know bought data instead of audio DAT tapes, I did this too. The GEMA is something similar the RIAA. It might be that it's forbidden to use codecs without a licence in Germany, but it's allowed to backup records and CDs, so it might be okay, if we have to pay GEMA fees for blank media. There are not so many people doing home recording, most people "backup" music, resp. they don't really backup, they often make illegal copies of CDs and records friends bought and anyhow they won't get troubles with the law, so it might be okay to pay such a fee ;). > The way the law is written is confusing so I cannot even tell > what exactly is legal or not in my own country. I gave Burkhard a German link and it's the same for Germany. The federal states of Germany have different laws. > The only thing I will > say is that one should consult a lawyer familiar with the applicable > laws if you have any questions about potentially violating any local > laws. Then manage your risk accordingly. As Burghard said, I'm wrong, it's forbidden in Germany, but it's tolerated in the state I live in. I'm from Nordrhein-Westfalen and you won't get troubles, if you are using Cinelerra with codecs, you didn't pay for, that might differ for a state like Bayern, I don't know. > <snip> > >> Also, in my experience WMV just does not look good under Linux. > Most of > >> the applications you would be using under Windows or OSX support other > >> codecs that are a better choice anyway. > >> > >> FYI, SuSe licences a number of things, which is probably why WMVs work > >> under SuSe. The community driven distributions will never ship with > >> those packages, you have to sort that out on your own. > > Novell (and Suse is Novell since some years) made a deal with Windows. > > As far as I know, Suse is the only other OS, you are allowed to have > > installed parallel to a Windows, without loosing Windows support. > > There are other commercial distros that licence codecs, such as Linspire > (if they are still around). I once had a distro, I don't remember which, that came with an online installer for codecs. The installer was easy to handle, but the codecs were not free. There was also a repository with free codecs, but without an easy to use installer and the user had to add the repository manually. For Suse there's the VIDEOLan and Packman repository that came with non-free codecs for free ;). There's a package builder for Packman on the LAD mailing list. I guess he should know about the laws in Germany, but I won't ask the list. But maybe someone wants to know what the law is in Germany. I don't really know the law, I only see what's tolerated in the state of Germany I'm living in. > > Back to my problem. Most .wmv are fine with my 64 Studio 2.1 Etch, but > > not all .wmv. The .wmv I've now, is fine with 64 Studio 2.1 Lenny using > > KMplayer. Totem and MPlayer aren't fine for my Etch, there I have to use > > VLC. VLC is fine with some .wmv and isn't for especially the one .wmv I > > <snip> > > As I said in the previous post. There are technical solutions provided > by the Debian Multimedia folks. Use google to find them. Use of all of > their software may or may not be legal, it is up to the individual to > determine that for their own region, and then manage their risk > accordingly. ! http://www.64studio.com/howto_cinelerra Is it allowed to write howto get codecs for cinelerra, on a internet site that might be in a country, were it's not allowed, to include the codecs to the distros download? Sometimes laws are strange. In Germany Adolf Hitler's book "Mein Kampf" is banned, but if someone writes a short introduction and add it to the book, it's allowed. The meaning of a law like that is reasonable, but without the wanted effect. Cheers, Ralf
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