[FFmpeg-trac] #65(undetermined:closed): Ambiguous --enable-non-free option

[FFmpeg]

#65: Ambiguous --enable-non-free option
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Reporter:  Ceylo        |       Owner:
    Type:  enhancement  |      Status:  closed
Priority:  normal       |   Component:  undetermined
 Version:  unspecified  |  Resolution:  invalid
Keywords:               |  Blocked By:
Blocking:               |  Reproduced:  0
Analyzed:  0            |
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Changes (by cehoyos):

 * status:  new => closed
 * resolution:   => invalid


Comment:

 IANAL.

 Copyright law is unambiguous in (nearly) every country. If you use
 --enable-nonfree (and --enable-gpl), you may not re-distribute the
 resulting binary in any country that implements (common) copyright law.

 I assume you worry about patent law. In many countries, algorithms cannot
 be patented, FFmpeg can therefore not violate any patent law by
 implementing patented algorithms in these countries.

 If you believe patent law affects you, I hate to tell you but it is very
 unlikely that you will find any (useful) function in FFmpeg that is not
 covered by any patent (we do not know, we haven't read any patents when
 implementing FFmpeg, but we have been told that many common multimedia
 algorithms are patented).

 Note that "freely used" is ambiguous: You may use FFmpeg only under the
 terms of the LGPL (assuming you did neither pass --enable-nonfree nor
 --enable-gpl to configure), not under any other terms (and therefore
 probably not "freely").

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://avcodec.org/trac/ffmpeg/ticket/65#comment:1>
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