Jpeg , png licence ?

[joezhou]

Here are three graphic file format , jpeg , png , gif , what's my question is that if I use these format for the commercial purpose , should I get licence from somebody first ?
Anybody know the infomation please post the related URL or you can contact me : oathme@vip.sina.com.

[Manish Malik]

The LZW compression algorithm used in the GIF format is owned by Unisys, and companies that make products that exploit the algorithm (including the GIF format) need to license its use from Unisys. In practice, Unisys has not required users of GIF images to obtain a license, although their licensing statement indicates that it is a requirement. http://www.unisys.com/about__unisys/lzw/

The PNG format was developed by an Internet committee expressly to be patent-free. http://www.libpng.org/pub/png/

[praymond]

Read in the Toronto Star today that a company in the USA will be enforcing licensing on a portion of JPEG compression algorithems that they hold a patent on. :mad: Not sure how this will affect the development community.
Paul