Discussion :

[Michaël]

bonjour,
j'ai monté un ordi sous linux avec plusieurs fonctionnalités dont la lecture mp3. je vais vendre ce pc (donc c'est une application commerciale) et je me pose des questions à propos des royalties à payer à thomson. est-ce que je dois payer ces royalties en sachant que je me place dans un cadre commercial MAIS que mon objet n'est pas uniquement un lecteur mp3.
je doute vraiment mais d'après ça :

I want to support mp3/mp3PRO in my products. Do I need a license?

Yes. As for practically any important technology (and particularly for publicly established standards), you should know that patent rights for mp3 exist. Both Fraunhofer IIS and Thomson have done important work to develop mp3 audio compression (before and after it became part of the ISO/IEC MPEG standards). This work has resulted in many inventions and several patents, covering the mp3 standard. Although others may also hold patents, Fraunhofer IIS and Thomson have an important portfolio of patents related to mp3.

Patent licenses under the combined patent portfolio of Fraunhofer IIS and Thomson are granted by Thomson exclusively.

In case your business does not involve the manufacture of relevant products, but importation or purchase of such products from a third party manufacturer, you are advised to check whether the manufacturer is duly licensed by us, as the trade in unlicensed products may expose your company to liability for patent infringement. Accordingly, you are advised to obtain licensed products only.

est-ce que je suis à l'abri avec xmms ?

[Neilos]

Si la lecture MP3 est assurée par un soft qui lui dispose une licence pour exploiter le MP3 je ne penses pas que tu auras de problème.
Mais je ne suis pas un pro du droit.