[FFmpeg-devel] Possible license violation: VIDEO CONVERT MASTER

[Diego Biurrun]

On Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 05:55:21PM +0200, Michel Bardiaux wrote:
> The installer does not indicate any license. The HELP ABOUT threatens 
> criminal penalties for unauthorized reproduction.
> 
> On the website http://www.video-convert-master.com/index.htm I did not 
> find any credit to ffmpeg, nor any mention of LGPL or GPL at all, nor, 
> needless to say, any hint of the modified sources.
> 
> After installation there is avcodec-51.dll, which in itself is enough to 
> make the distribution, at least of the ffmpeg parts, LGPL; and 
> xvidcore.dll, referenced by avcodec-51.dll, which is enough to make it 
> GPL. There is an avcore.dll which seems to be based on ffmpeg.c
> 
> I did not fully analyze the organization of the thing, but there does 
> not seem to be an exe that references that avcore.dll, so I guess they 
> use it by GetProcAddress, which some people consider a gray area for the 
> enforcement of (L)GPL *but* only if an independent library with the same 
> ABI exists, not the case here.
> 
> Could someone verify my findings, especially the non-findings?

Please add this to the tracker and to the Hall of Shame.

Diego