Hi, I have created an Audio Library using OpenAL and OGG. It works perfectly fine ... you can download it from here: http://www.syeds.org/Resume/Samples/Sound.rar They have worked perfectly fine for me so far and I have sold them to a couple of people without any liscence or something. I have tried to make it perfectly easy and as much multiplatform as possible. So far no complaints. I am however willing to earn some more money through it since I can need some now to help me out in the budget for my PC upgrade. So I need some advice ... what should I do ... You can see my samples in the compressed rar file. What liscence should I use? and How? Do I need to make it freeware for non-commercial use and payable for commercial use. Between ... one of the main problems is that for making it multiplatform ... I have only got Windows to work on. For Windows I can make dlls and distribute them. But this is not the case for LINUX and MAC. For all of them I supply the files that I have the source ... they can easily be attached in the project and then they can be compiled and used within the same project without any major errors. So far there hasn't been any problems. And I am not sure wether the people I have sold this have tried that on multiplatform. However, to make it work on multiplatform ... I have to sell the source code too. The price for all this wasnt cheap ... and to be honest I sold it for $100 per person. And I am willing to earn some more. Since it was with the source code. Now if I wish to make it available to the public or sell to the public what should I do? So far I have sold to only those that I have been contacted by :( I would love to see the increase of its users though I am just a programmer ... NO BUSINESSMAN :( ... I need all the help I can get to accomplish this taks ... any suggestions would be really appreciated :) Thanks!

Moved to the business forum. David and the guys will be much better at helping you than anyone in Help Wanted [smile]


Marc.

Thanks. I am hoping I will get some help now :)

It's not entirely clear what you are trying to achieve here, but this is my best advice:
- Write your own license. Many people try and combine different licenses such as the GPL and Copyleft into a random mess, which usually ends up incomprehensible.
- Start a website showing off the features of the library and how it can be used in applications. Give examples of projects that use the library if you can and include a link to download the freeware version.
- You can use a commodity approach for selling, which would be best for large volumes, or a more personal approach. The commodity approach would involve starting an online 'license shop' which is basically self-sufficient, and the personal approach would involve having contact details on the website and doing all transations offline or over e-mail.
- Try to think about marketing. Are you going to spread the word, and make developers want the library, or target them specifically to go for a direct sale? Remember to factor in the cost of this (time and/or money) when you are planning.
- Don't give the developer too many or too few rights.

Here is an example of the kind of license you could use (I am no lawyer, so I cannot guarantee this would hold up in a court).

Freeware version:
You, the developer, are granted a non-exclusive right to use the source code and/or binaries of 'The Funky Audio Library' to create derivative works for non-commercial use. If you choose to distribute these derivative works, they must be distributed [with/without/etc...] source code and credit 'The Funky Audio Library' with the accompanying URL 'http://www.thefunkyaudiolibrary.com' in either the program itself or the accompanying help file(s).

Commercial version:
Upon purchase of a full license, you - the developer - are granted a non-exclusive right to use the source code and/or binaries of "The Funky Audio Library' to create derivative works for commercial or non-commercial use. You are free to distribute these derivative works under the following conditions:
- The source code for "The Funky Audio Library" remains the intellectual property of 'ME!' and therefore cannot be redistributed without written consent.
- You may not redistribute "The Funky Audio Library" with anything but the freeware license, as specified above.

Probably not the best use of English but I'm tired.

If you need any more help, feel free to ask - either on this board or directly at 'david AT ignika DOT com'

Thanks DAVID ... I will E-Mail you :)