From: "Richard Gaskin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Patented, eh? Does the patent holder explicitly allow third parties to
read and write to that part of the proprietary MP3 file format, or can we
expect them to pull a bait-and-switch down the road like CompuServe did
with GIF?
They are already pulling. MS, Apple etc pay them royalties now and anybody
reading and writing to and from the file is expected to do the same. They
have attempted to go after some of the freeware tools and have gone after
several smaller commercial developers.
Take a look here:
http://www.chillingeffects.org/patent/notice.cgi?NoticeID=464
and here:
http://mp3licensing.com/
Note that this covers tags and playing and the creation of MP3 files. Ogg
is a good substitute though Thompson GMBH have turned their attention to
that as well several times in that they suggest Ogg *may* infringe on their
compression patent. Another company in the USA had Microsoft in court in
February as they also claim to own a patent on MP3 (not sure of details of
the actual patent held) and wanted mega bucks for use. They won and MS are
appealing. The tags are covered by the Thompson patent but getting precise
details requires you contact their lawyers. Having done that once I'd not
recommend it - they are creeps. <g>
Scott Kane
CD Too - Voice Overs Artist &Original Game and Royalty Free Multi-Media
Music
"There are two ways of being deceived. One is to believe that which is not
true. The other is to not believe that which is true." Søren Aabye
Kierkegaard
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