[XviD-devel] GPL and Windows

[Christoph Lampert]

Hi,

You misunderstood GPL. 

GPL does not restrict _usage_ in any way. You are allowed to 
_use_ XVID with Windows, with any proprietary software like Media
Player for decoding, or Adobe Premiere for encoding. 

What GPL forbids is the _distribution_ of derived works based on XVID,
where "derived works" usually is interpreted in a very broad sense. 
So, Microsoft is not be allowed to bundle Windows and XVID into
a "Multimedia-Windows" or something. Adobe is not allowed to create a
version of Premiere which already includes XVID, that would be
_distribution_ of derived works. 

gruel 


On Mon, 5 May 2003, James Briant wrote:
> Guys,
> 
> Whats the plot with a GPL license and windows media player codec? I'm sure
> you've been asked this before, but in case you havent:
> 
> Windows codecs are loaded as dynamic linked libraries into windows
> applications such as windows media player, or third party applications.
> Consequently it is a violation of the GPL to release your software as .dll
> and advocate its use as a windows codec. Frankly it wouldnt even be
> acceptable to release it as an .exe that ran in a seperate process. The
> codec is clearly something which cannot serve its purpose by itself and any
> linking with it, even if you added a network wrapper and used it via
> siberia, you would violate the GPL if any part of the system wasnt GPL'd
> too.
> 
> If you wish to release your software for windows users (as a windows media
> codec), you need to use the LPGL, not the GPL. As it is, anyone can write a
> non-GPL application on windows and use your GPL'd codec because it would be
> the *user* not the *author* who selects your codec.
> 
> Further, from the legal point of view (IANAL BTW) since you own the
> copyright on Xvid, you have the right to offer your software under any
> license you wish. One could argue, therefor, that since you have explicitly
> developed your software for, and advocated its use with, windows media
> player, that you are extending the licensing terms to include non-gpl'd
> software such as wmp.
> 
> Can you clarify your intentions?
> 
> jamie
> 
> 
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