Re: Convert wma to mp3?

"patrick" <pt,ri.c.k@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

In _ATXh.493$Dq6.142@edtnps82">news:_ATXh.493$Dq6.142@edtnps82,
Unruh <unruh-spam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

a) MP3 is a proprietary patented format at least in the USA and the
holders do NOT allow people to use the patent for encoding via mp3.

You'd better tell that to the authors of the ISO standard, and e.g.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mp3 and
http://sourceforge.net/projects/audacity/

Unruh, you make far, far too many statements in these newsgroups that you
represent as fact, when the only fact is that your statements are downright
false.

Interesting.
This part seems to be important:

Additionally, patent holders declined to enforce license fees on open
source decoders, allowing many free MP3 decoders to develop.[citation
needed] Furthermore, while attempts have been made to discourage
distribution of encoder binaries, Thomson has stated that individuals
using free MP3 encoders are not required to pay fees

So, downloading and using Lame is unlikely to get an individual user
in trouble. But including Lame in a distro or using Lame in a commercial
enterprise might get someone in trouble.

I think. I'm no lawyer.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Convert wma to mp3?
    ... holders do NOT allow people to use the patent for encoding via mp3. ... That MP3 is patented? ... I was specifically talking about encoders, which was what the user asked. ...
    (comp.os.linux.misc)
  • Re: MP3 etc patents valid in the UK?
    ... of LAME say that their product is free of any of the MP ISO reference source ... The patent holders do take action to enforce their ... popular MP3 compression technology. ... DVDs are in an MPEG format too and I like movies... ...
    (uk.comp.os.linux)
  • Re: DVD Player
    ... > vastly superior deCSS code. ... no mp3 by default since ... The MP3 issue must be caused by US patent law. ... Zustand des Gluecks durch Ausloeschung des Selbst. ...
    (Fedora)
  • Re: [opensuse] Goodbye to suse
    ... Not all MP3's involve copyright infringement. ... the reason Novell does not include any MP3 ... software is that the patent holder, Thomson Consumer Electronics, ... could work contractually would be a bulk / blanket license, ...
    (SuSE)
  • Re: ripping FAQ
    ... For lame, under config, encoder, encode, lame, the settings are: ... encoder file extension mp3 ... When I extract an mp3 with soundjuicer I get an mp3, ... Check your /var/log/messages for lots of read errors during ripping. ...
    (Fedora)