FFMpeg lib license for commercial use

[k moon]

Hi,

I 've created a commercial app on Android that use JavaCV juste for the FFMpeg wrapper.

I know that JavaCV is under GPLv2 with Classpath exception.

I've first included the precompiled and prepackaged CPPJARs files (*.so) from https://code.google.com/p/javacv/downloads/list but the FFmpeg Files are compiled with 'enable-gpl'
So I intend to compile my own library with LGPL compliance (http://ffmpeg.org/legal.html).
Finally I've seen that dynamic link aren't compatible with Android (http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4916512/using-lgpl-library-in-paid-android-app). How can I use the FFmpeg part of Javacv with my app ?

K Moon

[Samuel Audet]

Hi,

This is a good question. As pointed out by one of the answers on Stack Overflow, the Android SDK basically statically links all Java classes into one DEX file, and that probably goes against the LGPL. Actually, this is one of the main reasons why I chose the Classpath exception over LGPL. Even JNA, which used to be LGPL only, is also offered under the Apache license now.

That said, this only applies to Java classes. In the case of native binary files, Android doesn't do anything special, and works like normal Linux, more or less. Basically, it must be possible for (advanced) users to unzip the APK file that you distribute, so they can put any libavcodec.so, etc file they want there. I'm not a lawyer, but AFAIK this is all we need to do to fulfill the requirements of the LGPL in the case of FFmpeg.

Samuel