Patent issues (Was: Re: [vorbis] Winamp5)

[noprivacy at earthlink.net]

From: "Stan Seibert" <volsung at mailsnare.net>

> I'm not particularly interested in the patent debate since I'm not a
> lawyer, but I would like to know what assurances ARE actually claimed

Neither am I.  I figured I should make that clear too.

> software at Best Buy.  Tomorrow, EvilCompany starts sending out
> subpoenas claiming that they hold patents which one of these codecs
> infringes and therefore I am being sued for not paying EvilCompany's
> licensing fees.  What protection do I have?  Does

That would depend on what was in the contract agreement you signed / agreed
to in order to distribute the codec.

Generally, the company will assert its right to sell you a license to use
that codec.  And usually your fee goes into the 'patent pool' that pays all
of the patent holders

Generally though, if you are paying a company that claims to own the patents
(or are the designated authority), then they are the ones who take the risk.
You are operating in "good faith" and paying money in the process, so that
does go a long way.

Still, if the company wants to sue users, they can probably do so, but I
seriously doubt it'd be productive.

I'm sure there are likely other conditions and so on, but I'm not a lawyer.

If you are really interested, I'd suggest you actually check into the
licensing for mp3, AAC, WMA, etc.

<p><p>--- >8 ----
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