licensing business international corporate-law music
Can I legally use (read/encode to/decode from) the MP3 format without paying a license fee?
<p>I noticed a lot of different questions about the subject MP3 in the legal website (<a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/search?q=mp3">https://law.stackexchange.com/search?q=mp3</a>). But none of them answer my question really. </p>

<p>First of all, I'm thinking about including features in a technical service that should be compatible with MP3 files. This means I would like to know if it is legal for me decode and use a user-uploaded MP3 file. For example; converting it into another audio format. Or make an image of the frequency waves within that MP3 file. Is it I allowed to work with the MP3 format without paying a license fees?</p>

<p>Secondly, is it also allowed to encode an audio file into the MP3 format. For example a text-to-speech tool that outputs the audio in an MP3 encoded file. </p>

<p>So shortly; Can I legally use (read/encode to/decode from) the MP3 format without paying a license fee?</p>

<p>Some MP3 technologies are still under patent in the US: you can read the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3#Licensing.2C_ownership_and_legislation" rel="nofollow">wiki page</a> on that matter to see if it is applicable to what you intend to do. This assumes you write your own code – if you use someone else's conversion software, that would depend on the licensing terms for the software. </p>

<p>Notwithstanding any patents on the format, the content of the actual recording is almost certainly copyright. To legally make a copy (including translating to another format) you need the permission of the copyright holder or a fair use/fair dealing exemption.</p>
