MP3 patent issues?

[Corey Edwards]

On Wed, 2005-08-03 at 04:04 -0600, Steve Dibb wrote:
> Kenneth Burgener wrote:
> > I have heard that the MP3 encoding is patented.  Is this correct?
> > 
> > What does a patent protect?  If I were to encode a WAV to MP3 and NOT 
> > sale the MP3 does this violate a patent?
> > 
> > How about if I take a WAV file, encode it with LameMP3 and send it to a 
> > client?  Would this violate the MP3 patent?
> > 
> > Does anyone know where to find some good information on this?
> 
> I had the same question a long time ago, and I did all kinds of research 
> and it seemed that the developers of the MP3 codec (Franhoffer or 
> something like that) basically said a license wasnt needed for 
> non-commercial encoding, so OSS projects are in the clear (it was in 
> some interview, I wish I could find the link).

Even if they said that once, it doesn't mean they can't change their
mind later. That's the fun of patents.

Corey

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