Icecast dev - Apr 2015 - question about use MP3s with LAME on Icecast

Hi.
Is it possible (legally) to stream MP3s on Icecast that have been encoded
with LAME encoder (http://lame.sourceforge.net/license.txt)?
So if a composer writes a track, then saves in MP3 with LAME, and wants to
distribute with Icecast server, is it legal?
Must he get license for MP3 (http://mp3licensing.com/royalty/emd.html) and
pay any royalties for MP3 DISTRIBUTING or STREAMING as it stated on this
site? Or it's only if profit is >$100000 (look link)? (assuming he is a
individual person)

There is an unclear situation with LAME - can users from Russia legally
save a track with LAME to MP3 and commercially use this track? There were
some notes on http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/lame_legal_issues.html

Thanks
Konstantin
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Hi,

first and foremost:
I am not a lawyer, none of the following can be considered legal advice!
Consult a specialist lawyer, one who is familiar with your local 
jurisdiction!


On 26/04/15 14:23, Konstantin Smirnov wrote:
> Is it possible (legally) to stream MP3s on Icecast that have been 
> encoded with LAME encoder (http://lame.sourceforge.net/license.txt)?
That will depend on several factors, like applicability of MP3 encoder 
patents in local jurisdiction, obtaining licensing for the encoder, etc.

> So if a composer writes a track, then saves in MP3 with LAME, and 
> wants to distribute with Icecast server, is it legal?
Make sure not to conflate the legal situation of LAME with recording 
industry / broadcast licensing fees, those are separate things.

> Must he get license for MP3 (http://mp3licensing.com/royalty/emd.html) 
> and pay any royalties for MP3 DISTRIBUTING or STREAMING as it stated 
> on this site? Or it's only if profit is >$100000 (look link)? 
> (assuming he is a individual person)
I can't possibly speak for them, ask them if you really want to know.
Notice, that this is an additional licensing scheme where the licensor 
claims that you must obtain rights to distribute/broadcast in this 
format. This is yet again independent of the encoder and independent of 
recording industry fees.

> There is an unclear situation with LAME - can users from Russia 
> legally save a track with LAME to MP3 and commercially use this track? 
> There were some notes on 
> http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/lame_legal_issues.html
I don't think the legal situation around LAME was _ever_ clear under 
*any* jurisdiction.

To sum up:
- situation regarding licensing fees when using LAME as an encoder is 
unknown.
- situation regarding licensing fees for broadcasting in MPEG 1 layer 3 
format is not known.
- there's also the whole recording industry licensing thing, different 
can of worms.


After this lengthy introduction:

Just use Opus. It's free as in speech and beer. No licensing fees, no 
legal doubts, just use it.
Opus is conveniently supported by major browsers (Firefox, Chrome, 
Opera) and can be played back as easily as using the <audio> HTML-tag. 
Player software is available for pretty much all operating systems, 
including mobile devices (e.g. VLC). Icecast supports broadcasting Opus 
since version 2.4, packages for all major Linux distributions are 
available: http://icecast.org/download/

As a bonus you get much much better quality at lower bitrates.
This would at least rid you of the first two problems.


Technically most MP3 patents are running out or have already run out. 
Keep in mind though, that MP3 is now a 20+ years old codec with lots of 
known problems and inefficiencies. State of the art alternatives are 
available, like Opus.

Again, if you want to stick with MP3 and need to know, consult a Russian 
IPR lawyer. IANAL.


Cheers

Thomas

On 2015-04-26 13:23, Konstantin Smirnov wrote:
>  it's only if profit is >$100000 (look link)?
Even if the profit is less, you still need a encoder license since LAME 
is not licensed, this is why it's released as source code only (the 
responsibility of the license is then put on the end user instead).
If you plan to use LAME to encode audio for later commercial use you 
need a licensed encoder, or get a license to use with LAME, not sure of 
the cost maybe 15000 dollars. (a number I saw after a quick search)



-- 
Roger H?gensen, Freelancer, http://skuldwyrm.no/

On 2015-04-26 14:10, "Thomas B. R?cker" wrote:
> Just use Opus. It's free as in speech and beer. No licensing fees, no
> legal doubts, just use it.
> Opus is conveniently supported by major browsers...
Yeah, agreed. I'm a strong advocate of Opus as well.


But to get back to the topic regarding MP3 and LAME and streaming.
MY advice is just don't do it. The quality just isn't there compared to 
other codecs, especially at low bitrates.

And the MP3 licensing/patent mess is a real headache as you may need a 
encoder license and streaming license.


-- 
Roger H?gensen, Freelancer, http://skuldwyrm.no/