From:	ryot AT bigfoot DOT com (George Ryot)
Newsgroups:	comp.os.msdos.djgpp
Subject:	Re: JPEG or GIF lib
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References:	<Pine DOT A41 DOT 4 DOT 05 DOT 9908021012510 DOT 53762-100000 AT ieva01 DOT lanet DOT lv>
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Date:	Mon, 02 Aug 1999 21:52:37 GMT
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To:	djgpp AT delorie DOT com
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Andris Pavenis <pavenis AT lanet DOT lv> wrote:

> There is no more GIF support in latest versions of libgd.a due to patent
> problems. You should search for gd1.3.tgz or gd1.4.tgz to find versions
> that supports GIFs. WARNING. versions 1.2 and 1.5 contains LZW compression
> that has patent problems, so don't use them.

My understanding is that a licence is only required if you wish to
incorporate the LZW algorithm into a product that you wish to sell.
If you write code for your own use then it's ok to use LZW and the
resulting GIFs can be freely distributed or sold.  

gdlib 1.5 which I am using can be compiled without LZW compresion and
so could be used in a product without the need for a licence, although
distribution of the gdlib source code which *does* contain LZW is
possibly suspect.  Please correct me if I am wrong on any of this, I
thought I understood it but maybe not ;) 

http://www.boutell.com/gd/ lists gd 1.5 as no longer available, it is
replaced by gd 1.6.3 which now supports PNG format instead of GIF so
things may not be as straighfoward as I thought.
-- 
george

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