Dirac is licensed under the MPL (Mozilla) triple license. This means it is primariliy licensed under the MPL but anyone is free to re-license under either the GPL or LGPL licenses. We used the Mozilla license becuase it is well known and deals with patent issues. It means that any patents the BBC can license relating to the software are implicitly and irrevocably licensed for the software. So there are no royalties to pay for developing or using this software (either encoder or decoder). We chose this license to try to ensure that the codec remains royalty free. We figured if it was good enought for the Mozilla project it would probably be OK for us too. On the other hand we are aware that the MPL, on its own, is incompatible with the GPL and LGPL. We didn't want this and so have allowed re-licensing under the GPL. This means GPL software can freely integrate and develop Dirac. This is the approach suggested on the Gnu license page. You can also license Dirac under the LGPL. This means that even proprietary software can use it if they dynamically link with the libraries. The reason we have done this is so that the widest range of users can use Dirac royalty free.
Dirac is licensed under the MPL (Mozilla) triple license. This means it is primariliy licensed under the MPL but anyone is free to re-license under either the GPL or LGPL licenses. We used the Mozilla license becuase it is well known and deals with patent issues. It means that any patents the BBC can license relating to the software are implicitly and irrevocably licensed for the software. So there are no royalties to pay for developing or using this software (either encoder or decoder). We chose this license to try to ensure that the codec remains royalty free. We figured if it was good enought for the Mozilla project it would probably be OK for us too. On the other hand we are aware that the MPL, on its own, is incompatible with the GPL and LGPL. We didn't want this and so have allowed re-licensing under the GPL. This means GPL software can freely integrate and develop Dirac. This is the approach suggested on the Gnu license page. You can also license Dirac under the LGPL. This means that even proprietary software can use it if they dynamically link with the libraries. The reason we have done this is so that the widest range of users can use Dirac royalty free.
Both a C interface to our encoder and direct show filters are on our road map. Monitor our site or check freshmeat to find out as soon as they arrive.
Please bear in mind we are only in alpha.
Thanks to ChaoticCoyote for previous reply.
I would emphasise that this is at the research/alpha stage.
I don't think explicit lossless decoding is on the agenda at the moment. We are, however, interested in high quality compression, suitable for programme production, such as used in professional video recorders.
For professional use 10 bit (higher?) may be needed and we will consider this - but its not there at the moment. Generally we would like to address some high quality areas that are not addressed by Theora (as well as low bit rate streaming).
There is no block interlace mode at the moment. We plan to address this issue. It is essential - bear in mind the BBC has a very large archive of interlaced material. It would be silly if Dirac didn't allow for this.
Patents are explicitly mentioned in the MPL under which Dirac is licensed. More info in http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/projects/dirac/documentati on/dirac-handout-lude-04-2004.
Patents are explicitly mentioned in the MPL under which Dirac is licensed. More info in http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/projects/dirac/documentati on/dirac-handout-lude-04-2004.pdf
Dirac is released primarily under the MPL. This has been done explicitly to clarify that users are free to use BBC patents relating to it. The GPL does not do this. But we realise that users and developers need to integrate it with GPL code. Therefore we have added the ability to re-license under GPL to the MPL. The primary release license is MPL.
There's a big difference between hype and reality.
Do MPEG-4, and WM9 really have a 10 fold improvement over MPEG2 - I don't think so.
Perhpas Dirac is being honest?
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You can re-license Dirac under the LGPL. So you can use it royaly free in commercial software by dynamic linking to the binaries.
Dirac is licensed under the MPL (Mozilla) triple license. This means it is primariliy licensed under the MPL but anyone is free to re-license under either the GPL or LGPL licenses. We used the Mozilla license becuase it is well known and deals with patent issues. It means that any patents the BBC can license relating to the software are implicitly and irrevocably licensed for the software. So there are no royalties to pay for developing or using this software (either encoder or decoder). We chose this license to try to ensure that the codec remains royalty free. We figured if it was good enought for the Mozilla project it would probably be OK for us too. On the other hand we are aware that the MPL, on its own, is incompatible with the GPL and LGPL. We didn't want this and so have allowed re-licensing under the GPL. This means GPL software can freely integrate and develop Dirac. This is the approach suggested on the Gnu license page. You can also license Dirac under the LGPL. This means that even proprietary software can use it if they dynamically link with the libraries. The reason we have done this is so that the widest range of users can use Dirac royalty free.
Dirac is licensed under the MPL (Mozilla) triple license. This means it is primariliy licensed under the MPL but anyone is free to re-license under either the GPL or LGPL licenses. We used the Mozilla license becuase it is well known and deals with patent issues. It means that any patents the BBC can license relating to the software are implicitly and irrevocably licensed for the software. So there are no royalties to pay for developing or using this software (either encoder or decoder). We chose this license to try to ensure that the codec remains royalty free. We figured if it was good enought for the Mozilla project it would probably be OK for us too. On the other hand we are aware that the MPL, on its own, is incompatible with the GPL and LGPL. We didn't want this and so have allowed re-licensing under the GPL. This means GPL software can freely integrate and develop Dirac. This is the approach suggested on the Gnu license page. You can also license Dirac under the LGPL. This means that even proprietary software can use it if they dynamically link with the libraries. The reason we have done this is so that the widest range of users can use Dirac royalty free.
Both a C interface to our encoder and direct show filters are on our road map. Monitor our site or check freshmeat to find out as soon as they arrive. Please bear in mind we are only in alpha.
It is named as a tribute to a great British phycisit/mathematician. Hope it lives up to its namesake.
Thanks to ChaoticCoyote for previous reply. I would emphasise that this is at the research/alpha stage. I don't think explicit lossless decoding is on the agenda at the moment. We are, however, interested in high quality compression, suitable for programme production, such as used in professional video recorders. For professional use 10 bit (higher?) may be needed and we will consider this - but its not there at the moment. Generally we would like to address some high quality areas that are not addressed by Theora (as well as low bit rate streaming). There is no block interlace mode at the moment. We plan to address this issue. It is essential - bear in mind the BBC has a very large archive of interlaced material. It would be silly if Dirac didn't allow for this.
Patents are explicitly mentioned in the MPL under which Dirac is licensed. More info in http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/projects/dirac/documentati on/dirac-handout-lude-04-2004.
Patents are explicitly mentioned in the MPL under which Dirac is licensed. More info in http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/projects/dirac/documentati on/dirac-handout-lude-04-2004.pdf
Dirac is released primarily under the MPL. This has been done explicitly to clarify that users are free to use BBC patents relating to it. The GPL does not do this. But we realise that users and developers need to integrate it with GPL code. Therefore we have added the ability to re-license under GPL to the MPL. The primary release license is MPL.
There's a big difference between hype and reality. Do MPEG-4, and WM9 really have a 10 fold improvement over MPEG2 - I don't think so. Perhpas Dirac is being honest?