[Libav-user] Ask about license for using ffmpeg library in binary

Phil Turmel philip at turmel.org
Sat Jun 9 21:54:13 CEST 2012


Hi,

On 06/08/2012 11:10 PM, Khanh Nguyen Nam wrote:
> Dear all,
> 
> I am developing an application which uses ffmpeg library as below:
> 
>    * Add ffmpeg binary to application source code
>    * Call ffmpeg command line via C# code.
> 
> I want to sell my application. Do I have to pay for using ffmpeg? And if
> I have to pay, who will I have to contact?
> Sorry if this email disturb you.
> 
> Thanks for your help.
> Khanh

You asked exactly this question two days ago, and Carl answered you.
Perhaps you didn't see his reply, but it is visible in the archives.

Perhaps you didn't understand him, nor realize that Carl is one of the
developers.  Or you didn't understand that there is *NO* way to pay for
a commercial license.

FFmpeg *can* be distributed with a commercial package if at least one of
the distribution rules of the license is followed.  If you follow the
rules, you do not have to pay for a license.

However, there are rules on patents that may or may not apply to you.
FFmpeg does not control the patents, and the laws on software patents
vary greatly from country to country.  So you might need to research
that.

The rules are the the "GNU General Public License" and the "GNU Lesser
General Public License".  For your convenience, the FFmpeg developers
created a checklist for complying with the rules in the most common
situation (linking with the C API).

Carl supplied a link that gives all of this information:
http://ffmpeg.org/legal.html

If after reading the linked material, you still cannot understand what
you can or cannot do, or how to do what you can, you probably need to
find a lawyer to help you.

I am *not* a lawyer.

Hope this helps,

Phil


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