Stuart Allman wrote:
>
> I recently finished my six month delve into Dolby Pro-Logic and wrote my
> own algorithm on an AD ez-kit lite.  I was wondering if it would be OK to
> publish my work on the web?  Would I be violating any patent laws or
> special rights that Dolby has to their product?  I thought this subject
> went beyond just DSP programming, so it might be an interesting discussion
> for the list to tackle.
>
> The work I did, I feel, is "clean room".  The only things I had to work
> with is the Dolby spec that they released to the general public on their
> web page.  In this case, what type of disclaimers should I include with my
> work if I choose to publish it?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Stuart Allman
> studio@halcyon.com

I'm not a lawyer, but...

It seems to me that unless there is something in the language that they
use where they give the spec, such as, "by using this spec you agree not
to write code that implements it...", then you can do anything that you
want.

Be careful, though, not to infringe on the Dolby trademark.  For example
that better to advertise as "software that, as far as I can tell,
achieves the specifications of the Dolby Pro-Logic system as outlined on
their web page", rather than "genuine Dolby Pro-Logic stereo code, right
here folks".

Best of luck,

Al Cohen
Boston Medical Technologies