[Wikipedia-l] file uploads

[Hr. Daniel Mikkelsen]

On Sun, 9 Jun 2002, Derek Ross wrote:

> GIF is in itself a copyrighted, or rather a patented, file format.
> Therefore it is just as legally problematic to upload GIF images to the
> Wikipedia without permission from the patent-holder as it is to upload any
> other form of copyrighted material without the permission of the
> copyright-holder.

Didn't the patent for the compression scheme used in GIF recently expire?

Also, isn't it just the "compressing party" that would be hit by such a
patent? (I don't need to pay patent fees for collecting used machines
containing patented gear.)

-- Daniel