[XviD-devel] Re: License/legal discussions

[charact3r]

> So, changing the license is much more fundamental
> than just making some 
> company happy, it's about the fundamental rights we
> give to all users. 
> We shouldn't come up with just a quick-and-dirty
> solution for Jan, but 
> find a good solution for the future, too. 

It's really up to the xvid copyright holders (that's
the developers and anyone who provided patches) to
agree what usage they want to allow and what they want
to disallow.  That discussion has to take place first
-- best in public so that the "IANAL" experts can try
to find loopholes that might be exploited by the next
Sigma Designs.  Be very careful before releasing under
a new license.

I thought of another possible way out from the GPL /
patents situation.  GPL covers copying, modification
and distribution of source code.  It says nothing
about usage.  Patents cover making, using or selling. 
The simplistic view of this is that GPL concerns
source code, and patents cover use.  

So, would MPEGLA's license allow GPL-style copying,
modification and distribution of source code whilst
still requiring royalties for use?  This would allow
Jan (and others) to do what he wants to do without
comprimising xvid's GPL status.

Anyone know if the full terms of MPEGLA's MPEG-4
license are published somewhere?



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