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- Independent JPEG Group License LEGAL ISSUES
-
- In plain English:
-
- 1. We don't promise that this software works. (But if you find any bugs, please
- let us know!)
-
- 2. You can use this software for whatever you want. You don't have to pay
- us.
-
- 3. You may not pretend that you wrote this software. If you use it in a program,
- you must acknowledge somewhere in your documentation that you've used the
- IJG code.
-
- In legalese:
-
- The authors make NO WARRANTY or representation, either express or implied,
- with respect to this software, its quality, accuracy, merchantability, or
- fitness for a particular purpose. This software is provided "AS IS", and you,
- its user, assume the entire risk as to its quality and accuracy.
-
- This software is copyright (C) 1991-1998, Thomas G. Lane. All Rights Reserved
- except as specified below.
-
- Permission is hereby granted to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software
- (or portions thereof) for any purpose, without fee, subject to these conditions:
-
- (1) If any part of the source code for this software is distributed, then
- this README file must be included, with this copyright and no-warranty notice
- unaltered; and any additions, deletions, or changes to the original files
- must be clearly indicated in accompanying documentation.
-
- (2) If only executable code is distributed, then the accompanying documentation
- must state that "this software is based in part on the work of the Independent
- JPEG Group".
-
- (3) Permission for use of this software is granted only if the user accepts
- full responsibility for any undesirable consequences; the authors accept NO
- LIABILITY for damages of any kind.
-
- These conditions apply to any software derived from or based on the IJG code,
- not just to the unmodified library. If you use our work, you ought to acknowledge
- us.
-
- Permission is NOT granted for the use of any IJG author's name or company
- name in advertising or publicity relating to this software or products derived
- from it. This software may be referred to only as "the Independent JPEG Group's
- software".
-
- We specifically permit and encourage the use of this software as the basis
- of commercial products, provided that all warranty or liability claims are
- assumed by the product vendor.
-
- ansi2knr.c is included in this distribution by permission of L. Peter Deutsch,
- sole proprietor of its copyright holder, Aladdin Enterprises of Menlo Park,
- CA. ansi2knr.c is NOT covered by the above copyright and conditions, but instead
- by the usual distribution terms of the Free Software Foundation; principally,
- that you must include source code if you redistribute it. (See the file ansi2knr.c
- for full details.) However, since ansi2knr.c is not needed as part of any
- program generated from the IJG code, this does not limit you more than the
- foregoing paragraphs do.
-
- The Unix configuration script "configure" was produced with GNU Autoconf.
- It is copyright by the Free Software Foundation but is freely distributable.
- The same holds for its supporting scripts (config.guess, config.sub, ltconfig,
- ltmain.sh). Another support script, install-sh, is copyright by M.I.T. but
- is also freely distributable.
-
- It appears that the arithmetic coding option of the JPEG spec is covered by
- patents owned by IBM, AT&T, and Mitsubishi. Hence arithmetic coding cannot
- legally be used without obtaining one or more licenses. For this reason, support
- for arithmetic coding has been removed from the free JPEG software. (Since
- arithmetic coding provides only a marginal gain over the unpatented Huffman
- mode, it is unlikely that very many implementations will support it.) So far
- as we are aware, there are no patent restrictions on the remaining code.
-
- The IJG distribution formerly included code to read and write GIF files. To
- avoid entanglement with the Unisys LZW patent, GIF reading support has been
- removed altogether, and the GIF writer has been simplified to produce "uncompressed
- GIFs". This technique does not use the LZW algorithm; the resulting GIF files
- are larger than usual, but are readable by all standard GIF decoders.
-
- We are required to state that
-
- "The Graphics Interchange Format(c) is the Copyright property of CompuServe
- Incorporated. GIF(sm) is a Service Mark property of CompuServe Incorporated."
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