Flowstone Audio Files project

[Nubeat7]

what about asking malc about this mp3 licence? shouldn't he has already one? and if so, do we need one then? i mean if FS has a licence already and we are working with FS this should be enough..

[tulamide]

what about asking malc about this mp3 licence? shouldn't he has already one? and if so, do we need one then? i mean if FS has a licence already and we are working with FS this should be enough..

Unfortunately, the patent holders are pretty greedy. So what you say is only true as long as you're using Flowstone and nothing else. A dll is a seperate application for the patent holders (see LAME example) and therefor needs to be licenced seperately.

[Exo]

Great tulamide! Thanks for the effort and researching this

Looks like we will have to wait then, but at least it is just ten months

[Tronic]

Ten months only? true?

citation from here: http://mp3licensing.com/help/developers.html

I have my own/third party mp3 software. Do I need a license?
Yes. Use of our patents is not related to a specific implementation of encoders and decoders, which means that a license under our patents is needed.

[Exo]

Ten months only? true?

citation from here: http://mp3licensing.com/help/developers.html

I have my own/third party mp3 software. Do I need a license?
Yes. Use of our patents is not related to a specific implementation of encoders and decoders, which means that a license under our patents is needed.

That quote seems to relate to if you are using a 3rd party implementation for instance Lame then you still need a license, but I could be wrong.

Anyway I did a bit of reading myself and patents can be renewed! This avoid them running out in the UK you can renew just before it runs out. I cannot see them letting MP3 patents expire.

[Exo]

Actually I'm not so sure if what I said about renewing is correct, that might refer to maintaining the patent during its life time. God I hate this stuff.

[tulamide]

Ten months only? true?

citation from here: http://mp3licensing.com/help/developers.html

I have my own/third party mp3 software. Do I need a license?
Yes. Use of our patents is not related to a specific implementation of encoders and decoders, which means that a license under our patents is needed.

Yes, true, ten months only.
I've read that site also during my research. It's from technicolor, the successor of Thompson, that manages the patents for Thompson and Fraunhofer (two of four mp3 patent holders). You don't expect them to say "No, just wait another 10 months", don't you? Also the site was last updated 2009, 5 years ago. And don't forget, whatever they say, you can't sell licences for a patent that you don't own. In September 2015, nobody owns any patents for mp3 decoding anymore. That is a fact.

Actually I'm not so sure if what I said about renewing is correct, that might refer to maintaining the patent during its life time. God I hate this stuff.

Indeed, Exo, that is meant. Fact is, a patent runs for a maximum of 20 years, but only if the licence holder pays the annual fee. If not, it may or may not be terminated. Also, the patent holder has to validate it in each country manually. Else it is only valid where he did so (e.g. US, DE, UK, etc.) This is a regular worldwide patent rule.

The source for this info is in german, but I post it for completeness: http://www.patent-page.com/patentlaufzeit

[Tronic]

ok, now it's all clear, good to know, thank you.