Hello, I'm new to programming and game development. I have a few questions about licensing issues pertaining to embedding mp3 files in a Flash game. Basically, I'm writing my first game using Adobe Flex and I embedded an mp3 file to my program. Do I need a $2500 mp3 game license for my game? I believe if I distribute less than 5000 copies of my game, then there is no charge for using mp3 files, but what constitutes a copy of a Flash game? Is it the .swf file on the website or the files downloaded to people's browsers? I know there are licenses about including mp3 encoders and decoders in games, but is that not applicable since Flash is handling the mp3 decoding? Are there alternative sound files that can be embedded into Flash programs that are free licensed? The only other format I have heard of is .wav files which are large. Any clarification is appreciated. Thanks, Waynaul

A quick google search turned up this: Vorbis in Flash

Ogg Vorbis is a royalty-free audio compression format with similar-or-better compression than mp3.

I had a similar question about the license when I was first teaching myself Flash a year or two ago. I usually used Ogg Vorbis or tracker formats in my non-Flash games, but Adobe Flash is pretty much geared around running on MP3s and nothing but (wave format isn't exactly "web friendly").

From what I remember, Adobe has already paid the license for the Flash player which should cover general use of MP3s embedded into Flash applets. The main exception is if you are streaming audio, in which case you'll need a separate license. I'm pretty sure one of the end user licenses spells this out, but I'm not sure where it is to give you the link, sorry.

However I'm not 100% sure myself, given I didn't find a definite answer in my quick Google search, so if a Flash veteran could confirm this I'd be happy too.