[FFmpeg-devel] 24-bit ALAC decoder, concerns of the ALAC encoder

[Diego Biurrun]

On Tue, Sep 08, 2009 at 02:12:34PM +1000, David Hammerton wrote:
> 
> I've just released version 0.2.0 of my ALAC (Apples Lossless Audio Codec)
> decoder, which includes support for decoding 24-bit ALAC files. As you use
> this decoder in ffmpeg, you may wish to update it to the latest version. You
> can find the new version at http://craz.net/programs/itunes/alac.html

Why don't you send us a patch with the updates?  It's your code, so you
will be the person best suited for the job.  Besides, we do not have an
ALAC maintainer.

A comment about your decoder: Identifiers starting with __ or _ and a
capital letter are reserved for the system and thus illegal.  You should
avoid them.

> While I'm writing here, I have a minor concern with the ALAC encoder
> distributed with ffmpeg, and I'd like someones feedback on this. It seems to
> me that the ALAC encoder source bears similarity to that of the ALAC
> decoder. It seems to me plausible that the encoder is derived work from the
> decoder. If this is the case, and let me stress the 'if', then the license
> requirements of the decoder may have been breached. Could someone please
> take a look at this and, if necessary, take steps to rectify the problem?
> The license terms of the ALAC decoder can be found at
> http://craz.net/programs/itunes/alac.html, and explicitly mention that "The
> above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
> copies or substantial portions of the Software."

Jai?

Diego