Advice needed RE: Docs & RPM Fusion & Video Codecs & Nvidia

[Mat H]

Dear Legal Team,

Fedora Documentation Team is producing a 'beginners guide to Fedora'.

We want to include instructions on how to install video codecs from RPM 
Fusion that are possibly patent encumbered in some countries.
We have also the same question with regard to Nvidia drivers.

Can we

1. Provide hyperlinks to instructions on RPM Fusion:  and 
https://rpmfusion.org/Configuration ?

1.a. Provide hyperlinks to instructions on RPM 
Fusion: https://rpmfusion.org/Howto/Multimedia ?

1.b. Provide hyperlink to instructions on RPM Fusion, such as 
https://rpmfusion.org/Howto/NVIDIA ?

2. Provide instructions on docs.fedoraproject.org on how to install the 
RPM Fusion repositories. ?

2.a. Provide instructions on docs.fedoraproject.org on how to install 
the Nvidia drivers. ?

2.b. Provide instructions on docs.fedoraproject.org on how to install 
specific codecs such as those that enable playing h265 videos ?

Yours Sincerely,

Mat Holmes
@theprogram

[Justin Wheeler]

Hi folks, I encouraged Mat to bring this question from the Fedora Docs Team
chat room to this list. I feel like this is something I should know the
answer to, but I do not. And I thought this mailing list would be the best
place to get definitive answers.

See also, the only(?) existing page we have about content distributed from
RPM Fusion: https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/quick-docs/rpmfusion-setup/

On Mon, Feb 16, 2026 at 5:25 PM Mat H via legal <
[e-mail]> wrote:
> Dear Legal Team,
>
> Fedora Documentation Team is producing a 'beginners guide to Fedora'.
>
> We want to include instructions on how to install video codecs from RPM
> Fusion that are possibly patent encumbered in some countries.
> We have also the same question with regard to Nvidia drivers.
>
> Can we
> Provide hyperlinks to instructions on RPM Fusion:  and
>
> https://rpmfusion.org/Configuration ?
>
> 1.a. Provide hyperlinks to instructions on RPM
> Fusion: https://rpmfusion.org/Howto/Multimedia ?
>
> 1.b. Provide hyperlink to instructions on RPM Fusion, such as
> https://rpmfusion.org/Howto/NVIDIA ?
> Provide instructions on docs.fedoraproject.org on how to install the
>
> RPM Fusion repositories. ?
>
> 2.a. Provide instructions on docs.fedoraproject.org on how to install
> the Nvidia drivers. ?
>
> 2.b. Provide instructions on docs.fedoraproject.org on how to install
> specific codecs such as those that enable playing h265 videos ?
>
> Yours Sincerely,
>
> Mat Holmes
> @theprogram
>
> --
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[Jilayne Lovejoy]

To make sure I understand the question - is 1 and 2 asking about two 
different approaches:

1 being to provide links to pages on https://rpmfusion.org/ 
https://rpmfusion.org/Howto/NVIDIA... that explain how a Fedora user 
can install video codecs themselves;
v.
2 being that those same/similar instructions would be reproduced on 
docs.fedoraproject.org pages instead of just a URL to a separate site?

On 2/16/26 8:39 AM, Justin Wheeler via legal wrote:
> Hi folks, I encouraged Mat to bring this question from the Fedora Docs 
> Team chat room to this list. I feel like this is something I should 
> know the answer to, but I do not. And I thought this mailing list 
> would be the best place to get definitive answers.
>
> See also, the only(?) existing page we have about content distributed 
> from RPM Fusion: 
> https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/quick-docs/rpmfusion-setup/
>
> On Mon, Feb 16, 2026 at 5:25 PM Mat H via legal 
>  wrote:
> Dear Legal Team,
>
> Fedora Documentation Team is producing a 'beginners guide to Fedora'.
>
> We want to include instructions on how to install video codecs
> from RPM
> Fusion that are possibly patent encumbered in some countries.
> We have also the same question with regard to Nvidia drivers.
>
> Can we
>
> 1. Provide hyperlinks to instructions on RPM Fusion:  and
> https://rpmfusion.org/Configuration ?
>
> 1.a. Provide hyperlinks to instructions on RPM
> Fusion: https://rpmfusion.org/Howto/Multimedia ?
>
> 1.b. Provide hyperlink to instructions on RPM Fusion, such as
> https://rpmfusion.org/Howto/NVIDIA ?
>
> 2. Provide instructions on docs.fedoraproject.org
> <http://docs.fedoraproject.org> on how to install the
> RPM Fusion repositories. ?
>
> 2.a. Provide instructions on docs.fedoraproject.org
> <http://docs.fedoraproject.org> on how to install
> the Nvidia drivers. ?
>
> 2.b. Provide instructions on docs.fedoraproject.org
> <http://docs.fedoraproject.org> on how to install
> specific codecs such as those that enable playing h265 videos ?
>
>
> Yours Sincerely,
>
> Mat Holmes
> @theprogram
>
> -- 
> _______________________________________________
> legal mailing list -- [e-mail]
> To unsubscribe send an email to [e-mail]
> Fedora Code of Conduct:
> https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/project/code-of-conduct/
> List Guidelines:
> https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines
> List Archives:
> https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[e-mail]
> Do not reply to spam, report it:
> https://forge.fedoraproject.org/infra/tickets/issues/new
>
>
>
> -- 
> *Justin* (/he/him/) || 📧 [e-mail] || 🔗 jwheel.org 
> https://jwheel.org
> TZ=America/Atlanta (UTC-4) 🕗
> /Fedora is a registered Digital Public Good 
> https://app.digitalpublicgoods.net/a/12003/
>
> While I may be sending this email outside my normal office hours, I 
> have no expectation to receive a reply outside yours.

[Daniel P. Berrangé]

On Mon, Feb 16, 2026 at 05:39:50PM +0100, Justin Wheeler via legal wrote:
> Hi folks, I encouraged Mat to bring this question from the Fedora Docs Team
> chat room to this list. I feel like this is something I should know the
> answer to, but I do not. And I thought this mailing list would be the best
> place to get definitive answers.
>
> See also, the only(?) existing page we have about content distributed from
> RPM Fusion: https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/quick-docs/rpmfusion-setup/

Putting aside the Legal question, I note at the top of that page
we say:

"Fedora recommends the use of free and open source software
  and avoidance of software encumbered by patents."

Given that position, is it appropriate to be directing readers of the
proposed beginners guide towards RPM Fusion at all ?

With regards,
Daniel

[Gary Buhrmaster]

On Tue, Feb 17, 2026 at 9:31 AM Daniel P. Berrangé via legal
 wrote:
> Putting aside the Legal question, I note at the top of that page
> we say:
>
> "Fedora recommends the use of free and open source software
>   and avoidance of software encumbered by patents."
>
> Given that position, is it appropriate to be directing readers of the
> proposed beginners guide towards RPM Fusion at all ?

It is my personal opinion that it is generally illegal and
unethical to provide advice intended to violate laws
(your jurisdiction will vary, of course).  Since Fedora
is required to follow US laws, and US attorney ethics,
that would mean that suggesting users to go to
RPMFusion to potentially violate the laws of the
US would not be appropriate.  I have no doubt that
 there are ways to try to not cross some line in the
sand that could sort of claim they are not suggesting
individuals choose to violate the laws of the land, but
I don't, really, believe it follows the real intention of
the ethics rules, but if RH legal can offer that finding,
so be it (and if they can't, don't cross that line).

I will also say that telling users (explicitly) that they
have the responsibility to contact their personal lawyer
to obtain their own finding for their particular case is
quite appropriate (FD: I do have a lawyer trained
on IP law that I can engage (also FD: that advice is
not cheap if I do so as an individual)).