Linking to closed-source software

[iUltimateLP]

Hey there!
I was tinkering around with TTS solutions and my closed-source Unreal Engine 4 game for quite some time now, and while I tried espeak-ng, the GPL licensing and the disability to receive a linking exception makes it impossible for me to use it in my game.

However, I figured I could also try using Mbrola directly, without the espeak frontend to generate phonemes.

So, MBROLA is licensed under AGPLv3, but I wonder whether it'd be possible to acquire a linking exception for this library. I think the game development world could really benefit from MBROLA. I'm implementing a robot voice system, so the sound of it is just a perfect match. I'm also aware that the voice databases have their individual licenses, but I'd be fine with creating my own, or trying to contact the license owners of the voices directly - however I doubt that'll work. So let's discard the voices for a second and I'd like to know whether there is a possibility to link MBROLA dynamically to the closed-source game - maybe with a linking exception or a small fee? @thierrydutoit.

Thanks and I'm looking forward to a response!

[thierrydutoit]

Hey Johnny, My university has sold a commercial license o MBROLA to a company, which prevents linking exceptions, sorry… Best, Thierry

[iUltimateLP]

Ah, maybe I could ask that company to find a solution? Is there any info available?

[thierrydutoit]

You may contact patrick pc. cauderlier ***@***.******@***.***> Best regards, Thierry

[iUltimateLP]

The mail got filtered out 😛