FHG has modified their license agreement to start charging royalties for streaming using MP3. The decoder used doesn't matter.
Maybe take a look at Ogg Vorbis? It does require more CPU horsepower but it is completely patent- free.
Website http://www.vorbis.com/
Erik Turner
----- Original Message ----- From: "David Van Brink" DVANBRIN@altera.com To: mad-dev@lists.mars.org Cc: "Bob Garrett" BGARRETT@altera.com Sent: Monday, June 11, 2001 2:16 PM Subject: [mad-dev] Patent and Copyright Issues?
Hello Robert Leslie and madplayer fans,
Are there any known patent issues with using madplayer in a product? I am unclear on if there are algorithms which are generically off-limits, or what. I'm asking on the list since I assume the answer will be of general interest.
I have only heard vague hearsay about MP3 and patents, I would love to have harder facts on the matter.
And, for that matter, are there licensing issues for madplayer itself, were it to be used in a commercial application?
Thanks -- David Van Brink \ dvb@altera.com
P.S. We make microprocessors, and one of our customers is interested in using MP3 to play some recorded talking alerts in an embedded application. I've used madplayer in some demonstrations, and know that it would work great for their application.