No, look here:
http://slashdot.org/articles/99/08/31/0143246.shtml
and since you mention com objects and stuff, you should really take a
look at this:
http://www.serverobjects.com/lzw.html
If you use GIMP to create JPEGs or other format, you are liable,
especially if you then use the images for a commercial purpose. That
is the real kicker. If you create images that are used on a website
or other entity, or sell the images, then it doesn't matter what
software you used, you are responsible to know that the software you
used has a license for doing this.
This was not the nature of my question, I understand the above. I am
trying to decide through researching the issue, if I should consider
the patent claim on JPEG to be valid. After spending a good portion
of the day researching, I can go either way.
Also, I have applied for one patent, and the patent application and
lawyer fees was put up by a backer. The firm that put the patent
application together was OMM (O'Melvany and Myers). If you watch the
news, you have probably heard of them. HUGE LA firm.
I could never afford them, but it was a great learning experience
getting to discuss these types of issues with a Patent attorney of
that calibre.
That said, when you manage a webserver, that has software that makes
JPEGs that are used commercially, you are responsible for any
licenses etc. You cannot blame it on any 3rd party tool like a com
object unfortunately. That com object could be written by some guy in
the ukraine that has no clue or no governance on these types of issues.
I think, though, if you DO use a piece of software from Macromedia,
or Adobe, or Apple, you can claim that you reasonably expected they
were up on all there licenses.
So that is my way out, I am going to make sure all of my JPEG methods
are done with the Quicktime API, and dump ImageMagick for the actual
creation of the jpeg. I will probably keep imagemagick for the
scaling of the images, cuz it is unmatched.
It is ok to READ in anything, as far as I have come to understand,
and then manipulate in any way if the image is ok for you to do so,
but writing out, you have to choose a format you are licensed to do
so, ESPECIALLY if used for commercial purposes. EVEN creating
thumbnails of larger images would be a violation if saved back to JPEG.
--
Robert Garcia
President - BigHead Technology
VP Application Development - eventpix.com
13653 West Park Dr
Magalia, Ca 95954
ph: 530.645.4040 x222 fax: 530.645.4040
[EMAIL PROTECTED] - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://bighead.net/ - http://eventpix.com/
On Jul 20, 2005, at 11:30 AM, Peter Dobbs wrote:
Sorry, it is my understanding that by using the software that is
provided by
a third party vendor, you are not liable for the fees associated with
generating images using this software.
For example, by using Photoshop to make JPEG files, I am abstracted
from the
requirement of paying the licensing fee, I simply pay my fee to Adobe.
If I use WebPic, I am not required to pay a fee for any JPEG that I
create
using this software only for the software. I am an end consumer of
this
software, not a vendor of it and therefore not liable. If I were to
distribute a software product that uses WebPic at its core, I would
then be
liable to pay them a licensing fee.
If they are not licensed to use JPEG files, that could cause issues
I would
imagine but not directly to me.
Your thoughts?
p.
-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Garcia [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2005 12:18 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Witango-Talk: JPEG Patent Issue
It is not someone elses problem. I have the responsibility to make
sure the tools I use are licensed. And if I am on the radar, I am
sure these other tools will be, sooner or later. If you think that I
wrote my own JPEG compression algorithm, then thanks for the
compliment. You think I am a better programmer than I am!
http://news.com.com/Do+you+own+everything+in+your+software+portfolio/
2010-1071_3-5794276.html?part=rss&tag=5794276&subj=news
--
Robert Garcia
President - BigHead Technology
VP Application Development - eventpix.com
13653 West Park Dr
Magalia, Ca 95954
ph: 530.645.4040 x222 fax: 530.645.4040
[EMAIL PROTECTED] - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://bighead.net/ - http://eventpix.com/
On Jul 20, 2005, at 11:09 AM, Peter Dobbs wrote:
Why don't you use a simple COM object that handles this for you and
absolve
yourself of the problem altogether?
I use one called WebPic. http://www.softuarium.com/item.php?id=40
But there are TONS out there. See: www.componentsource.com
Let the licensing issue be someone else's problem.
p.
-----Original Message-----
From: Alan Wolfe [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2005 11:01 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Witango-Talk: JPEG Patent Issue
if it's any help, if you were forced to say "all photos must be png
format", an upside to using PNG is that it is lossless compression,
whereas jpg is lossy.
You might be able to get away with saying "to preserve image quality,
please use PNG compression" or soemthing like that
hope that helps in some small way, bummer to hear abotu your plight
On 7/20/05, Robert Garcia <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I am doing the research, and looking carefully at the Unisys/gif
issue for education.
I can use PNG in some of my apps, and I love the PNG format, for the
most part, but I can't get around I have to use JPEGs to show
photographer's images online. PNG just doesn't have complete support
yet, and I also would have to investigate compression methods, and
which were supported on which browsers.
We are in the process of switching to JPEG2000 for transport, but I
better make sure that won't violate anything.
What does IANAL stand for? I am not a lawyer? Haven't seen that one.
It is nice to be noticed, but not by the IRS, or some Patent lawyer!
I always thought JPEG was royalty free, till seeing some news on the
web about forgent this year.
--
Robert Garcia
President - BigHead Technology
VP Application Development - eventpix.com
13653 West Park Dr
Magalia, Ca 95954
ph: 530.645.4040 x222 fax: 530.645.4040
[EMAIL PROTECTED] - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://bighead.net/ - http://eventpix.com/
On Jul 20, 2005, at 6:57 AM, Scott Cadillac wrote:
Wow, that sux Robert,
I would try to find a support group somewhere that is dealing with
this, at
least for advice. There must be one somewhere.
I assume you've tried
IANAL, but if it were me, I'd investigate switching wholesale to
some other
format like PNG.
On the bright side, I guess you can say this is a measure of
success, simply
because you got noticed.
Hope things work out.
~ Scott Cadillac
~ 403-254-5002
~ [EMAIL PROTECTED]
~ Custom Software for Business
http://custom.softwarefor.net
~ The XML-Extranet Partnership
~ P.O. Box 69006
RPO Bridlewood SW
Calgary, Alberta
Canada T2Y 4T9
-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Garcia [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2005 6:09 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Witango-Talk: JPEG Patent Issue
I have been sent letters, and have been phoned about software
that I
have written that compresses images using JPEG format. They want
percentages of revenue from the companies using the software.
Some background info:
http://www.shaftek.org/standardsblog/2005/04/27/the-never-endi
ng-jpeg-
patent-saga/
http://www.forgent.com/
The company contacting me is Inavisis.
I heard about Sony and Adobe buckling and paying the license,
and MS
and Apple fighting. I was wondering if anyone has done more
research
on this kind of thing, like the Unisys GIF issues before.
I know, if the JPEG patent is valid, I am violating it by using
open
source JPEG libraries to compress images, like ImageMagick. But
if I
use calls to the host operating system, or an API like Quicktime,
would I still be violating the patent?
It has always been my understanding, if a library like Quicktime,
allows me to save to a particular format, I am in compliance, cuz
Quicktime has the responsibility of being in compliance with
licenses.
If anyone has any info, I think this is a good topic of
discussion,
cuz if I got on their radar, others will too. And then I
guess I will
have to write my own utilities for the webservers to manipulate
images, using quicktime. My desktop software too.
--
Robert Garcia
President - BigHead Technology
VP Application Development - eventpix.com
13653 West Park Dr
Magalia, Ca 95954
ph: 530.645.4040 x222 fax: 530.645.4040
[EMAIL PROTECTED] - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://bighead.net/ - http://eventpix.com/
--
Robert Garcia
President - BigHead Technology
VP Application Development - eventpix.com
13653 West Park Dr
Magalia, Ca 95954
ph: 530.645.4040 x222 fax: 530.645.4040
[EMAIL PROTECTED] - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://bighead.net/ - http://eventpix.com/
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