Project Plan:
https://github.com/Exiv2/exiv2/issues/1018#issuecomment-757979745
I’d like to thank Alex Esseling for his help last week to talk to everybody involved. He set up the meeting and made the slides.
I’m optimistic that good things will happen in 2021. darktable and RawTherapee will get code they have requested and the users with Canon cameras will get the tools they want. My book and retirement will be delayed, however maybe more engineers will contribute to Exiv2 to make this happen.
Having discussed the legal issues with very many people, I’ve concluded that there is no case to answer. Exiv2 implements code to read unencrypted metadata from files which are formatted to public standards. Several people have expressed caution and their concerns have been thoroughly examined. Other open source projects such as Python, ExifTool and ISOBMFF Explorer provide similar code without legal consequences.
Part of the plan for Exiv2 v0.27.4 is to investigate joining OIN which is a non-agression patent alliance and includes Canon. I believe we have a good project plan which will deliver success.