Adding VLC codecs to a media player written in C# windows 8 store app

Question

I'll try to be direct about it

How to take the codecs from VLC media player source code and integrate them in my media player windows 8 app written in C#

PS: I want to publish this app in the store so any one downloads it won't need to install codecs and stuff

I hope this time my question is simple

Answer 1

There are 3 distinct problems you may have to solve in order to reuse the code in Windows 8 environment.

1.What is the licensing type of VLC / VideoLan sources?

From this link http://www.videolan.org/legal.html , it is clear that the sources under VideoLan project are covered under GPL. There are some restrictions/recommendations to use a GPL software as captured here http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html#SEC3 . Assuming that you are able to satisfy all requirements, we come to the next question.

2.Is GPL software compatible with Windows 8 environment?

This is a really important question to solve. I am not aware of Windows 8 licensing terms and conditions, but feel this is definitely a numero uno issue for you.

Apart from the cross-licensing issues, I feel that the most critical issue for you would be

3.Who pays the royalties or patent fees or legal fees for the different codecs?

Each codec has it's own unique collection of terms and conditions and licensing models. As an app developer, do you charge any fee and in turn manage to pay all the standardization bodies or do you have a model where the device manufacturer / end-user pay the royalties?