Help with distributing JorbisSPI

[Scarzzurs]

Hey all :-)

Since i got music for my lastest game Beyond Negotiation i've been frustrated about the filesize of the music.
It seems JorbisSPI is the solution, compression all the music into ogg vorbis files. However i'm quite confused about how to distribute it with the license and such. So if someone could help me out, it'd be greatly appreciated.

My game is distributed as java webstart and .jar download. However if it's a problem distributing it in a simple jar file, i could ignore that and go for the java webstart solution only. What i want is to have as much of the library on my own server as possible, whilst not having to worry to much about the license (i don't want a screen where people have to accept to the license f.x.). I'm looking for the smoothest user experience possible...

- Scarzzurs

[fletchergames]

For MP3SPI (which is from the same website but for MP3s instead of OGGs), I include the following text at the end of my license file:

1   2   3   4   5

3rd Party Libraries: MP3SPI is used to play music in this game.  It's distributed under the LGPL.  The full distribution package (including license) is included in the file lib/mp3spi1.9.4.zip. MP3SPI is available from http://www.javazoom.net/.

Also, there is something in the LGPL somewhere that says you have to include the whole distribution package so that other people can use it.  For this reason, I include the file mp3spi1.9.4.zip, even though I only use the jar files from inside it.

You don't have to have a screen where people have to accept the license.

One weird thing is that you can't "advertise" that people should buy your game because you use the library.  One time I used a LGPLed spellchecker in an applet on a website I used to have.  I said something like "Now with Jazzy Spellchecker!" on my website to indicate that it contained a spellchecker, and someone sent me a nasty little email.

[Scarzzurs]

Thanks for your reply.

Yeah, i'm distributing it with the complete library zip file. I don't have a license file for the game though, and your experience with the spellchecker you mentioned is making me hesitate to credit the library on my website...

I'd like to know more about this episode with the spellchecker, as i didn't read that anywhere in the LGPL. If i've misunderstud anything i'd be glad to be corrected :-)

Again, thanks for your reply. If someone else have anything to add, that'd be greatly appreciated.
I think it's a shame it's so hard to use something as good as open source libraries.

- Scarzzurs

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[fletchergames]

I searched for the clause in the LGPL and coudn't find it.  I did a google search to see if I could find any information about such a clause, but I couldn't.  I did, however, find a link that said that an old version of the BSD license had a similar clause.

I downloaded Jazzy Spellchecker and saw that it does use the LGPL, not the BSD.

Still, I did get some kind of email from the author (at least, I assume it was the author; who else would care?).  I took down the text he didn't want on the website, and that was it.

The fact is that people who give away free libraries aren't going to send lawyers after you if you make some minor error with how you distribute their libraries.  So long as you include some text in your license file and include the original .zip file in your distribution, you should be fine.

That email I got before must have been some kind of fluke thing because the LGPL doesn't say anything about advertising that you use the library.  Still, I would avoid saying anything like "Buy my game because it uses JorbisSPI."

[fletchergames]

You know what, the more I think about it, I think that the email I mentioned might have had nothing to do with Jazzy Spellchecker.

At the time when I received I, I was trying to sell a video game I had made for the first time.  One of the artists changed his mind about letting me use his art after I started selling the game.  That may have been the same guy.

He emailed me from about 5 different email addresses, and I could barely understand his emails.  I suspect that he didn't speak English particularly well because I could never figure out exactly what he meant.

I think it was probably that guy, and I just didn't know what he was talking about.  I swear he said something about Jazzy Spellchecker though.  He must have seen the text on my website and thought it had something to do with the game.  (It was actually for something else I had worked on before.)

[Scarzzurs]

Right. Thanks for explaining. :-)
I've linked to the website of JorbisSPI now and explained where to find the license for the library. The library in it's complete form is distributed in my games .jar file. I hope that will surffice. Anyways, if i receive any complaints i'll be sure to change it :-)

- Scarzzurs