Hi,
Does anyone have a definitive answer to ye olde 'do I need a license to use mp3 files in my game' question?
This is mostly with respect to iOS games, but in general what's the story...?
Googling comes up with various answers, but usually with the 'I am not a lawyer' qualifier tacked on at the end!
Bye,
Mark
I guess you've already found this but it is what I've always regarded as the "official line". Would love it if someone else has a different story!
Are you looking to use a specific tune, or just after anything that will suit a game? I have produced some game music and might be able to help you out. It would certainly be cheaper than licensing an existing MP3, and you get something custom made. I'd even do your first one for free :)
I've done tunes for Cerebral Fix here in Christchurch. Check my game music on http://brentishouse.com/?cat=25/
Cheers,
Brent
Hi,
> I guess you've already found this but it is what I've always regarded as the "official line".
Yeah, found that - I was kind of hoping someone had an alternate 'official line'. That page certainly makes it look like you can't use mp3 in iOS games without paying a license fee.
There's a rumour that 'Apple have already paid the fee' floating around, but that sounds a bit like wishful thinking to me...
> It would certainly be cheaper than licensing an existing MP3,
I'm talking about something different here - you apparently need a license just to *use* mp3, regardless of the mp3's source. Or have I got that wrong too?
So...are there any compressed non-mp3 formats supported on iOS? I know it doesn't do ogg natively - anything else? Preferably a format audactiy can handle 'natch.
(Note: I'm after this info mainly for the sake of Monkey users who are grilling me about this right now!)
Bye,
Mark
That's my understanding as well Mark (that you need a license just to use mp3). Hence the ability to read them doesn't come bundled in the average free Linux distro.
The Multimedia Programming Guide from Apple's dev library suggests that you can use mp3 on iOS freely and has more info about conversion to other usable formats for hardware and software decoding in iOS.
Oh, I see! Gosh, I never realized you need a license for MP3 format use. That's an interesting problem. What about Flash audio?
Hi,
Thanks for that Damien.
Looks like AAC is the one to recommend - similar to mp3 capability wise, but without the playback license issue (although there are still problems with writing codecs).
Seems to work everywhere too, have successfully tested it on Flash, iOS, HTML5 on both Mac and PC. Android doesn't seem to like it, but you can use OGGs there.
> What about Flash audio?
As far as I know, same deal. If you use mp3 in a commercial game (and it sells over 5000) you're meant to pay a license fee. Of course, that doesn't mean everyone *does* - and with closed source DRM'd stuff for platforms like iOS, who's gonna know anyway?
Bye,
Mark
I'd suggest looking into using a free format such as Vorbis/OGG and avoiding the MP3 licensing issue altogether. :) Most big-name games use Vorbis for background music already.
Sound quality is often higher as well.
Thanks @jevon - that's handy to know!