Re: potent patent problems

From: Robert J. Woodhead <trebor_at_animeigo.com>
Date: Thu 01 Feb 2001 11:08:15 -0600

BRAD JENSEN <brad_at_elstore.com> WROTE:
> Theoretically they could go after every single
> advertiser that uses GIF banners.

ROBERT J. WOODHEAD <trebor_at_animeigo.com> WROTE:
> This is not correct.

BRAD JENSEN <brad_at_elstore.com> WROTE:
> It IS correct, in the sense that the option of whether
> to charge or not rests in the hands of Unisys, not the
> user.

No sir, you are incorrect. While I am not a lawyer, my
best friend is one of the brightest intellectual
property lawyers in the country -- and a world-class
computer hacker. I've had discussions with him about
the GIF patents.

If you create a GIF using a licensed application, you
are not in violation and you can use that GIF any way
you want. After it's created it is just data.

ROBERT J. WOODHEAD <trebor_at_animeigo.com> WROTE:
> IIRC, Unisys only requires licenses of COMMERCIAL
> application creators whose applications manipulate
> (basically, if it packs or unpacks) gifs.

BRAD JENSEN <brad_at_elstore.com> WROTE:
> This is a choice made by Unisys, not the limit of
> their rights.

Irrelevant. Since there are licensed applications out
there all over the place, even if Unisys said "no more
licenses, no more renewals" (which is so unlikely as
to be ludicrous) the older versions of the software
would be available and legal to use.

ROBERT J. WOODHEAD <trebor_at_animeigo.com> WROTE:
> As long as your gifs are created by an application
> that is properly licensed, you can use it to do all the
> giffing you might want, and serve them on the web.
> Your webserver does not need a license because it is
> just transmitting the data, not manipulating it.

BRAD JENSEN <brad_at_elstore.com> WROTE:
> Au contraire mon frere, the web server definitely
> manipulates the data, although it does not lzw unpack
> it. It mime encodes it.

Sorry, but you don't understand the law. Even if a
webserver is mime encoding (for example), that doesn't
violate the GIF patents. That is not GIF encoding.
It is MIME encoding. AFAIK MIME is an open standard
that does not require a license. You only need to
obtain a license if you do a manipulation on some data
that involves executing the GIF algorithms.

If a webserver were, for example, taking a live webcam
image, GIF encoding that, and serving it, then the bit
of middleware doing the encoding would require a
license. But other than that, if no GIF manipulation
is being done, no license is required. Thus, if I
create a GIF image using GraphicConverter (my favorite
Mac graphics app, which is licensed), I can plonk it
on any webserver in the world and serve it with no
fears of infringing upon Unisys's intellectual
property rights.

The fact that GIF has become, along with JPEG, a very
broad standard, indicates to me that Unisys is being
very reasonable in their exploitation of their
intellectual property.

If you happen to have used an unlicensed application to
create GIFs and Unisys, through some bizarre set of
circumstances decides to come after you, they would
have to show that you knowingly infringed. Absent
that, the limit of their remedy would probably be
something like getting the judge to tell you to go buy
a licensed application. Given that shareware like
GraphicConverter goes for $30 or so, somehow I doubt
it would be worth the court costs!

Best,R

Robert Woodhead, CEO, AnimEigo http://www.animeigo.com/
http://selfpromotion.com/ The Net's only URL registration
SHARESERVICE. A power tool for power webmasters.





Received on Thu Feb 01 2001 - 11:08:15 CST