[asterisk-dev] Using FFmpeg

[Kevin P. Fleming]

On 07/23/2010 04:59 PM, Olle E. Johansson wrote:
> 
> 23 jul 2010 kl. 16.55 skrev Philippe Sultan:
> 
>> More info on FFmpeg web site :
>> http://www.ffmpeg.org/legal.html
> 
> From that page:
> 
> Q: Is it perfectly alright to incorporate the whole FFmpeg core into my own commercial product? 
> A: You might have a problem here. There have been cases where companies have used FFmpeg in their products. These companies found out that once you start trying to make money from patented technologies, the owners of the patents will come after their licensing fees. Notably, MPEG LA is vigilant and diligent about collecting for MPEG-related technologies.
> 
> I would be a bit careful here.

That's right; so this doesn't directly affect Digium (as we wouldn't
include the code that uses FFmpeg into commercial Asterisk anyway, since
FFmpeg is at best LGPL-licensed), but it's a potentially scary situation
for people who distribute products containing open source Asterisk, and
it's even scarier for people who *use* such products without
understanding the obligations involved.

None of that is necessarily a reason to avoid FFmpeg usage in Asterisk
completely, but it's worth analyzing and discussing. It's the same
reason that most Linux distributions that package FFmpeg do it very
carefully, and require the user to take special steps to install the
portions that are (or potentially are) patent-infringing.

-- 
Kevin P. Fleming
Digium, Inc. | Director of Software Technologies
445 Jan Davis Drive NW - Huntsville, AL 35806 - USA
skype: kpfleming | jabber: kfleming at digium.com
Check us out at www.digium.com & www.asterisk.org