The WebBrowser control and GIF licensing...
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Just a quick question regarding licensing gifs: If my app hosts Internet Explorer via the WebBrowser control, and the user views a page containing gifs, do I need a license fron UNISYS, or is it covered under Microsoft's license (as it is technically their app loading the gifs)? I tried reading the various information available to me, but am just getting very, very confused.
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Just a quick question regarding licensing gifs: If my app hosts Internet Explorer via the WebBrowser control, and the user views a page containing gifs, do I need a license fron UNISYS, or is it covered under Microsoft's license (as it is technically their app loading the gifs)? I tried reading the various information available to me, but am just getting very, very confused.
My understanding is that you are correct ! Your App runs somebody elses app who should have the available licensing ! Just to be safe I turn off the DL_CTRL's for the IE WebBrowser to download Images as a default ! ( Not that it probably helps ) "And yes it appears UniSys's patent is for the rendering of gifs also" Regardz Colin Davies
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Just a quick question regarding licensing gifs: If my app hosts Internet Explorer via the WebBrowser control, and the user views a page containing gifs, do I need a license fron UNISYS, or is it covered under Microsoft's license (as it is technically their app loading the gifs)? I tried reading the various information available to me, but am just getting very, very confused.
i would ask Unisys. send them an email (http://www.unisys.com/unisys/lzw/). you odn't have to tell them who you are :) . this is a very fuzzy area... -c
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Just a quick question regarding licensing gifs: If my app hosts Internet Explorer via the WebBrowser control, and the user views a page containing gifs, do I need a license fron UNISYS, or is it covered under Microsoft's license (as it is technically their app loading the gifs)? I tried reading the various information available to me, but am just getting very, very confused.
According to http://www.microsoft.com/DEVONLY/Unisys.htm you will need a license, as to my knowledge the WebBrowser control is loaded dynamically from a DLL. ------------------------------------------ From the above mentioned site: ------------------------------------------ GIF AND OTHER UNISYS LZW LICENSES Various Microsoft products provide read/write capability and/or other LZW capability covered by Unisys-owned U.S. patents 4,558,302, B1 4,558,302 and foreign counterpart patents. Although Microsoft is licensed under these patents, Microsoft’s license does not extend to software developers or third parties who use Microsoft toolkit, language, development or operating system products to provide GIF read/write and/or any other LZW capability in their own products ( e.g., by way of DLLs and APIs). ---------------------------------------- I wrote to UNISYS a few weeks ago with a similar question, and was referered to the information above. I hope to god I have got this wrong, if not every app, whether commercial, shareware or even freeware, that uses MS's control will need a license. If so I find it hard to beleive that MS would be pushing us developers into using it to provide web content in our apps (especially with the new MFC7 classes). Vesta
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According to http://www.microsoft.com/DEVONLY/Unisys.htm you will need a license, as to my knowledge the WebBrowser control is loaded dynamically from a DLL. ------------------------------------------ From the above mentioned site: ------------------------------------------ GIF AND OTHER UNISYS LZW LICENSES Various Microsoft products provide read/write capability and/or other LZW capability covered by Unisys-owned U.S. patents 4,558,302, B1 4,558,302 and foreign counterpart patents. Although Microsoft is licensed under these patents, Microsoft’s license does not extend to software developers or third parties who use Microsoft toolkit, language, development or operating system products to provide GIF read/write and/or any other LZW capability in their own products ( e.g., by way of DLLs and APIs). ---------------------------------------- I wrote to UNISYS a few weeks ago with a similar question, and was referered to the information above. I hope to god I have got this wrong, if not every app, whether commercial, shareware or even freeware, that uses MS's control will need a license. If so I find it hard to beleive that MS would be pushing us developers into using it to provide web content in our apps (especially with the new MFC7 classes). Vesta
I hadn't seen that one ! WOw, Some thoughts, 1. Its not a legal ruling its a piece of info ! 2. Read a GIf and Render a Gif are slightly different ! Eg My printers and monitors drivers render GIf's via MS's Licence, 3. General Patent law allows you to build Gif readers and writers, for your own use, but not for profit. Unysis would have to prove loss of income if you were to give the products away, But They can afford a lot of lawyers ------- but I'm still confused Regradz Colin Davies
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According to http://www.microsoft.com/DEVONLY/Unisys.htm you will need a license, as to my knowledge the WebBrowser control is loaded dynamically from a DLL. ------------------------------------------ From the above mentioned site: ------------------------------------------ GIF AND OTHER UNISYS LZW LICENSES Various Microsoft products provide read/write capability and/or other LZW capability covered by Unisys-owned U.S. patents 4,558,302, B1 4,558,302 and foreign counterpart patents. Although Microsoft is licensed under these patents, Microsoft’s license does not extend to software developers or third parties who use Microsoft toolkit, language, development or operating system products to provide GIF read/write and/or any other LZW capability in their own products ( e.g., by way of DLLs and APIs). ---------------------------------------- I wrote to UNISYS a few weeks ago with a similar question, and was referered to the information above. I hope to god I have got this wrong, if not every app, whether commercial, shareware or even freeware, that uses MS's control will need a license. If so I find it hard to beleive that MS would be pushing us developers into using it to provide web content in our apps (especially with the new MFC7 classes). Vesta
Yes. As that MS quote clearly states, if you read or write GIFs, regardless of where that capability comes from (a C++ class, some C functions, a DLL, a COM component, built into Windows, whatever), you need to get a Unisys license. There are no exceptions w/r/t "freeware", "shareware", etc.. If you use GIF, you need a license. MS has a sweet deal worked out with Unisys where they can distribute GIF r/w code without any real restrictions. This is very different than the license a developer like you or i would face. We would be required to prove that everyone who buys our GIF r/w code already has a Unisys GIF license before we could sell it to them. MS doesn't have to do this, they can distribute the code freely and let the developers worry about it. While this is nice for MS (and great for developers who don't know about or care about the patent situation), it essentially shuts all other toolkit developers out of the GIF market. This info comes from conversations i've had with the Unisys GIF/LZW attorney. -c
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I hadn't seen that one ! WOw, Some thoughts, 1. Its not a legal ruling its a piece of info ! 2. Read a GIf and Render a Gif are slightly different ! Eg My printers and monitors drivers render GIf's via MS's Licence, 3. General Patent law allows you to build Gif readers and writers, for your own use, but not for profit. Unysis would have to prove loss of income if you were to give the products away, But They can afford a lot of lawyers ------- but I'm still confused Regradz Colin Davies
you cannot render an image unless you read it. rendering implies that something has read it. MS's license does not apply to your own programs, only to funtions performed by their programs. -c
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According to http://www.microsoft.com/DEVONLY/Unisys.htm you will need a license, as to my knowledge the WebBrowser control is loaded dynamically from a DLL. ------------------------------------------ From the above mentioned site: ------------------------------------------ GIF AND OTHER UNISYS LZW LICENSES Various Microsoft products provide read/write capability and/or other LZW capability covered by Unisys-owned U.S. patents 4,558,302, B1 4,558,302 and foreign counterpart patents. Although Microsoft is licensed under these patents, Microsoft’s license does not extend to software developers or third parties who use Microsoft toolkit, language, development or operating system products to provide GIF read/write and/or any other LZW capability in their own products ( e.g., by way of DLLs and APIs). ---------------------------------------- I wrote to UNISYS a few weeks ago with a similar question, and was referered to the information above. I hope to god I have got this wrong, if not every app, whether commercial, shareware or even freeware, that uses MS's control will need a license. If so I find it hard to beleive that MS would be pushing us developers into using it to provide web content in our apps (especially with the new MFC7 classes). Vesta
Huh? So what happens if I write a shell replacement program (ie. some program which acts like Explorer - ie. it calls "CreateProcess()") and it starts an applications that then happen to use Microsoft's GIF license - but I started the process, so is it my application in this case?!?!? Is this much different from embedding the IE explorer render in one of my windows? Or what about using HTML Help Workshop to create help for some application you have created, making the chm files which contains some embedded GIFs which have been created with licensed software? Is this part of your application??? Seems to me that Unisys would have some magic to do in court... Have fun, Paul Westcott.
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you cannot render an image unless you read it. rendering implies that something has read it. MS's license does not apply to your own programs, only to funtions performed by their programs. -c
Chris So if I ask ~ the MS Program thumbnail.ocx to read / render an image for me, "then that is in MS's Licence" Note I did not distribute the thumbnail.ocx ? So I have no problem ! Is this what you mean, Regardz Colin
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you cannot render an image unless you read it. rendering implies that something has read it. MS's license does not apply to your own programs, only to funtions performed by their programs. -c
MS's license does not apply to your own programs, only to funtions performed by their programs. Does that mean by hosting the WebBrowser control, I would not need a license, as any gifs are being rendered via functions performed by Microsoft's program? Cheers, Vesta