On Mon, 5 Feb 2001, Bernie wrote:
> Steve wrote:
> > Compuserve allowed gifs to be used for a long time without
> >requiring registration or license fees.
>
> Ahem, you mean "Unisys" not "Compuserve". Compuserve did invent the GIF
> format, but they used the LZW algorithm that's owned by Unisys.
Of course. It must have been late when I wrote that. ;-)
(I was thinking TRW, but I *knew* that wasn't right, so I
didn't write it.)
> > The situation now, as I understand it, is that any program which
> >incorporated gif while the format was allowed to be used at no cost
> >is grandfathered-in to the provisions extant at that time.
>
> Correct, see about.htm (under notes).
Hmmm... well, after reading the Unisys release on the Corel suit,
it would appear that commercial entities certainly are pursued
for retroactive license fees.
> One could actually debate if the inclusion of animated GIFs into Arachne
> broke the "rule".
I suspect that Unisys would say that it did.
They don't seem to get very specific on legalities.
"Just pay."
http://www.unisys.com/unisys/lzw/lzw-companies.asp
- Steve
