IPIX

[Bill Barton <wbill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all, just got this with my PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS' NEWSLETTER
(PPN) BJP e-mailing today....thought I would pass it on......

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Panorama system causes copyright problems

A new piece of software, available free on the Web, allows the user to
remap or convert images
from one type to another, but its German author has upset Internet
picture company IPIX.

Panorama Tools, by Helmut Dersch, can for example, convert images taken
with wide angle lenses
into fisheye images and vice versa (software at
http://www.fh-furtwangen.de/~dersch/). Images
made with convex mirrors can also be remapped or converted into
rectilinear or fisheye images.
However, IPIX (http://www.ipix.com), which has its own fisheye derived
spherical VR system and
software, is alleging that Dersch's product is infringing its copyright.
IPIX claims that it
owns the copyright in the format it utilises to create IPIX panoramas
that can be viewed using
the IPIX plug-in.