In article <chr### [at] netplexaussieorg> , 
Christopher James Huff <chr### [at] maccom>  wrote:

>> 3D World had an article about this, but I couldn't find an online link.
>>
>> http://www.digitalproducer.com/2002/07_jul/news/07_22/pixar_exluna.htm
>>
>> Pixar sued a rival, and one of the object of contention was the
>> anti-aliasing technique.  Is POV OK?
>
> If you are asking if anyone has a patent on something used in POV, the
> answer is yes. Given the amount and type of stuff patented, there has to
> be. Even if there weren't, POV still wouldn't be "safe". This particular
> patent was on a kind of "random sampling" as I recall...they could
> probably claim it applies to POV antialiasing, area lights, photons,
> media, radiosity...fighting them off would not be easy.
> Fortunately, the POV Team probably isn't a very high-priority target.

No, the official answer can only be that the POV-Team is not aware of any
patents infringed by POV-Ray.  Saying anything else would be very
danagerous.

    Thorsten

____________________________________________________
Thorsten Froehlich, Duisburg, Germany
e-mail: tho### [at] trfde

Visit POV-Ray on the web: http://mac.povray.org

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