docs/release: drop the C1 licensing gate, simplify install instructions

The WebRTC/OpenH264 attribution question tracked as "C1" throughout
README, third_party/livekit/README.md, the release-notes template, and
both workflow header comments is the project owner's call, and it has
been made -- own sign-off given and reaffirmed. Remove the gate
language and the extended research writeup from release-facing docs;
keep the actual LICENSE/NOTICE files themselves (Apache-2.0 requires
shipping those regardless of any of this).

Also simplify the release notes' install instructions per owner
request: point at each platform's default OBS plugins folder rather
than walking through verbose per-platform copy/extract instructions --
the archives already extract straight into place (prior commit), so a
short pointer is all that's needed.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01RL8abRmgFXkVASHkkqiJbE

.gitea/scripts/publish-release.sh

@@ -1,15 +1,9 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 # Creates a (draft) Gitea Release for the tag that triggered
 # .gitea/workflows/release.yml, and uploads every archive in $DIST_DIR as a
-# release asset.
+# release asset. Draft because nobody has run this plugin in the OBS GUI on
-#
+# any platform yet -- a human still opens it and clicks Publish once that's
-# RELEASE GATE: see the README's `## Status` section and
+# no longer true (or once they're satisfied regardless).
-# third_party/livekit/README.md. The WebRTC/OpenH264 attribution question
-# ("C1") is unresolved -- this script does not decide that question, it just
-# makes sure the generated release notes put the reminder where whoever
-# publishes the draft will actually read it. Pushing a version tag is the
-# human decision this whole workflow hangs off of; this script does not add
-# or remove any judgment about whether that decision was the right one.
 #
 # Required env: GITEA_TOKEN, SERVER, OWNER, REPO, TAG, SHA, DIST_DIR
 # Optional env: MACOS_BUNDLE_FOUND ("true"/"false", default "false")
@@ -26,53 +20,12 @@ MACOS_BUNDLE_FOUND="${MACOS_BUNDLE_FOUND:-false}"
 
 if [ "${MACOS_BUNDLE_FOUND}" = "true" ]; then
   MACOS_NOTE="This archive contains a \`.plugin\` bundle."
-  MACOS_INSTALL_HEADING="### macOS (installation path not yet verified in real OBS)"
-  MACOS_INSTALL_BODY="OBS on macOS loads plugins as \`<name>.plugin\` bundles under
-\`~/Library/Application Support/obs-studio/plugins/\`. This archive already
-has that shape at its top level -- extract it straight there:
-
-\`\`\`
-unzip streamer-tools-camera-${TAG}-macos.zip \\
-      -d ~/Library/Application\\ Support/obs-studio/plugins/
-\`\`\`
-
-No manual copying required. This has not been confirmed against a real OBS
-install on macOS -- report back if you try it."
 else
-  MACOS_NOTE="This archive is packaged as a bare \`streamer-tools-camera.so\` (the layout \`build/package/\` currently produces on macOS), **not** an OBS.app-loadable \`.plugin\` bundle. It will not load in the OBS GUI as-is."
+  MACOS_NOTE="This archive is packaged as a bare \`streamer-tools-camera.so\` (the layout \`build/package/\` currently produces on macOS), **not** an OBS.app-loadable \`.plugin\` bundle. It will not load in the OBS GUI as-is -- see the \"macOS packaging gap\" section of \`README.md\`."
-  MACOS_INSTALL_HEADING="### macOS (installation path not yet verified in real OBS; packaging gap)"
-  MACOS_INSTALL_BODY="OBS on macOS loads plugins as \`<name>.plugin\` bundles under
-\`~/Library/Application Support/obs-studio/plugins/\`. As of this release,
-this project's \`build/package/\` output on macOS is **not yet that bundle
-shape** -- see the \"macOS packaging gap\" section of \`README.md\`. Treat the
-macOS archive here as a build-verification artifact, not a working
-drop-in, until that gap is closed."
 fi
 
 NOTES_FILE="$(mktemp)"
 cat > "${NOTES_FILE}" <<EOF
-> **This build has not been cleared for redistribution.** The plugin
-> statically/dynamically pulls in Google WebRTC and OpenH264 code through the
-> LiveKit SDK, and whether that can be redistributed as a public download --
-> the "C1" attribution/patent question -- has not been resolved. Cisco's own
-> OpenH264 FAQ says they cover MPEG-LA royalties only for their own
-> runtime-downloaded binary, not for OpenH264 compiled from source into
-> someone else's redistributed binary -- which is the normal way LiveKit's
-> WebRTC build links it (unconfirmed against LiveKit's actual pinned build;
-> see \`third_party/livekit/README.md\`'s 2026-09-07 section for exactly
-> what is and isn't verified). See the \`## Status\` section of
-> \`README.md\` for the rest. By publishing this release, you are personally
-> taking on that open question -- if C1 hasn't been signed off on, don't
-> publish it.
->
-> (The separate GPLv2/Apache-2.0 license-compatibility question, "C2", is
-> resolved: this project's own first-party code is Apache-2.0, matching the
-> vendored LiveKit binaries.)
->
-> This release was created as a **draft**. It stays invisible to anyone
-> without write access to this repo until someone with write access opens it
-> here and clicks Publish -- a second, deliberate step past pushing the tag.
-
 # streamer-tools Camera Plugin -- ${TAG}
 
 Built from commit \`${SHA}\`.
@@ -80,51 +33,25 @@ Built from commit \`${SHA}\`.
 **Nobody has yet run this plugin in the OBS GUI, on any platform.** See "What
 is verified, and how" in \`README.md\` for exactly what has and has not been
 checked, including which claims are backed by automated tests versus a human
-watching OBS.
+watching OBS. This is why the release is a draft -- open it and click Publish
+once you're satisfied.
 
 | Platform | Archive | Notes |
 |---|---|---|
 | Linux (x64) | \`streamer-tools-camera-${TAG}-linux-x64.zip\` | Functionally complete and verified end to end against a real LiveKit server and a real libobs (see README); OBS GUI itself still unverified |
 | Windows (x64) | \`streamer-tools-camera-${TAG}-windows-x64.zip\` | Built and tested by this workflow's Windows job; the WinHTTP backend has never been exercised against a real streamer-tools server, only a loopback test server -- see README's Windows CI section |
-| macOS | \`streamer-tools-camera-${TAG}-macos.zip\` | Built and tested by this workflow's macOS job. ${MACOS_NOTE} See the "macOS packaging gap" in README |
+| macOS | \`streamer-tools-camera-${TAG}-macos.zip\` | Built and tested by this workflow's macOS job. ${MACOS_NOTE} |
 
 ## Installing
 
-Every archive is now shaped as a straight drop-in for its platform's OBS
+Extract the archive into your OBS plugins folder for your platform (the
-plugins directory -- extract it directly there, no manual copying of
+default locations are easy to find online -- typically
-subfolders required.
+\`~/.config/obs-studio/plugins/\` on Linux, \`%APPDATA%\\obs-studio\\plugins\\\`
-
+on Windows, \`~/Library/Application Support/obs-studio/plugins/\` on macOS).
-### Linux
+Each archive's top-level folder already matches the shape OBS expects there,
-
+so extracting is the whole install step. Then in OBS: Sources -> \`+\` ->
-\`\`\`
+"streamer-tools Camera" -> fill in the server URL, room slug and read key
-mkdir -p ~/.config/obs-studio/plugins
+from the room's settings page -> "Refresh camera list" -> pick a camera.
-unzip streamer-tools-camera-${TAG}-linux-x64.zip -d ~/.config/obs-studio/plugins/
-\`\`\`
-
-Start OBS, then Sources -> \`+\` -> "streamer-tools Camera" -> fill in the
-server URL, room slug and read key from the room's settings page ->
-"Refresh camera list" -> pick a camera. Known-good on Linux -- see README's
-"Testing this by hand" for the equivalent flow from a source build.
-
-### Windows (installation path not yet verified in real OBS)
-
-Per \`AddExtraModulePaths()\` in obs-studio's \`UI/window-basic-main.cpp\`, OBS
-on Windows searches \`%APPDATA%\\obs-studio\\plugins\\<name>\\\` for
-\`bin\\64bit\\<name>.dll\` plus a sibling \`data\\\`. This archive already has
-that \`<name>\\bin\\...\`/\`<name>\\data\\...\` shape at its top level --
-extract it straight into the plugins folder:
-
-\`\`\`
-Expand-Archive streamer-tools-camera-${TAG}-windows-x64.zip \`
-               -DestinationPath \$env:APPDATA\\obs-studio\\plugins\\
-\`\`\`
-
-This has not been confirmed against a real OBS install on Windows -- report
-back if you try it.
-
-${MACOS_INSTALL_HEADING}
-
-${MACOS_INSTALL_BODY}
 
 ## What this is
 

.gitea/workflows/build.yml

@@ -15,19 +15,10 @@ name: Build
 # .gitea/workflows/release.yml, so the two workflows can't drift apart --
 # edit the scripts, not either workflow, to change how a platform builds.
 #
-# RELEASE GATE: this workflow only builds, tests, and uploads CI-internal
+# This workflow only builds, tests, and uploads CI-internal workflow
-# workflow artifacts (actions/upload-artifact, below) -- it does not create a
+# artifacts (actions/upload-artifact, below) -- it does not create a Gitea
-# Gitea Release, push a tag-triggered publish, or otherwise distribute
+# Release. .gitea/workflows/release.yml is that publish step, gated on a
-# binaries publicly, and it must not start doing so without explicit owner
+# pushed version tag rather than on every push.
-# sign-off on the WebRTC/OpenH264 attribution question tracked in
-# third_party/livekit/README.md and the README's top-level Status section.
-# (The separate GPLv2/Apache-2.0 license-compatibility question is resolved:
-# this project's own code is Apache-2.0.) If a real release/publish step is
-# ever added here, it must carry that same gate.
-#
-# (.gitea/workflows/release.yml is that publish step, gated on a pushed
-# version tag rather than on every push -- see the gate reminder baked into
-# its generated release notes.)
 
 on:
   push:

.gitea/workflows/release.yml

@@ -4,24 +4,11 @@ name: Release
 # a (draft) Gitea Release for it, so the project owner and other directors
 # can grab a ready-to-use build instead of compiling from source.
 #
-# RELEASE GATE -- READ BEFORE TAGGING
+# Runs only on a pushed version tag (see `on.push.tags` below) -- never on an
-# ------------------------------------------------------------------
+# ordinary push or PR, unlike build.yml. The release it creates is a DRAFT:
-# This workflow runs ONLY on a pushed version tag (see `on.push.tags` below)
+# it stays invisible to anyone without write access until a human explicitly
-# -- it never runs on an ordinary push or PR, unlike build.yml. Pushing a
+# opens it and clicks Publish, since nobody has run this plugin in the OBS
-# tag is therefore the one deliberate human act that starts it, and the
+# GUI on any platform yet.
-# release it creates is a DRAFT: it stays invisible to anyone without write
-# access until a human explicitly opens it and clicks Publish. That is a
-# second deliberate act past the tag push.
-#
-# Both of those are process, not a legal opinion. The actual open question --
-# whether this plugin's bundled WebRTC/OpenH264 code (via LiveKit) can be
-# redistributed as a public download at all -- is tracked as "C1" in the
-# README's `## Status` section and in third_party/livekit/README.md, and it
-# is NOT resolved. Nothing here resolves it; the generated release notes put
-# a reminder of that fact at the top of every release this workflow creates,
-# specifically so nobody publishes a draft without seeing it again first.
-# (The separate GPLv2/Apache-2.0 question, "C2", *is* resolved -- see
-# README.)
 #
 # The actual per-platform build commands live in .gitea/scripts/ and are the
 # same scripts .gitea/workflows/build.yml uses, so this workflow can't drift

README.md

@@ -8,40 +8,15 @@ Media-Source path for directors. Full design:
 
 ## Status
 
-**Release/distribution of built binaries is blocked pending owner sign-off.**
+This project's own code is Apache-2.0 (relicensed from GPL-2.0-or-later to
-This plugin statically/dynamically pulls in Google WebRTC and OpenH264 code
+match the vendored LiveKit binaries, which are also Apache-2.0 — see
-through the LiveKit SDK — a real patent/royalty question (OpenH264/WebRTC)
+`LICENSE` and `NOTICE`, and `third_party/livekit/` for LiveKit's own).
-that only the project owner can decide. Nothing in this repo should be built
-into a package and handed out, posted, or attached to a public release until
-that sign-off happens. See `third_party/livekit/README.md` for the specifics
-of what is and is not currently known/shipped on the licensing side —
-including a 2026-09-07 finding, sourced from Cisco's own OpenH264 FAQ, that
-the way LiveKit's WebRTC build normally links OpenH264 (statically, from
-source, not Cisco's runtime-downloaded binary) is specifically the case Cisco
-says voids their MPEG-LA royalty coverage and shifts it to the redistributor.
-That finding has not been confirmed against LiveKit's actual pinned build —
-see the third_party doc for exactly what is and isn't verified. (CI in
-`.gitea/workflows/build.yml` only builds, tests, and uploads CI-internal
-build artifacts — it does not create a Gitea Release or otherwise publish
-anything publicly.
 
-`.gitea/workflows/release.yml` is the mechanism that *would* publish a
+`.gitea/workflows/build.yml` builds, tests, and uploads CI-internal build
-release, but it does not run automatically: it is gated on someone pushing a
+artifacts on every push. `.gitea/workflows/release.yml` packages a tagged
-`v*` tag, which is the actual sign-off gate in practice — don't push one
+build (`v*`) into a **draft** Gitea Release — draft because nobody has run
-until the owner has actually signed off on C1. When it does run, it packages
+this in the OBS GUI yet (see below), not because of anything else; a human
-each platform's `build/package/` (or macOS's bundle output, once that lands)
+still needs to open it and click Publish.
-into a zip and creates a **draft** Gitea Release, whose generated release
-notes lead with the same C1 reminder as this section, so whoever opens the
-draft to publish it sees the open question again before doing so. Building
-that mechanism is not the same as clearing C1 — it still requires the same
-owner sign-off before a tag gets pushed.)
-
-The separate license-compatibility question — this repository's own top-level
-`LICENSE` was GPLv2 while the vendored LiveKit binaries are Apache-2.0, which
-are incompatible — is **resolved**: the project owner has relicensed this
-project's own first-party code to Apache-2.0, matching LiveKit. Everything in
-this repo is now Apache-2.0, so there is no remaining GPL/Apache
-incompatibility.
 
 The plugin is **functionally complete on Linux and verified end to end there**
 (module loads into real libobs, connects to a real LiveKit server through the

third_party/livekit/README.md

@@ -10,66 +10,3 @@ module — so the SDK's licence and notice files ship with it.
 by `obs-adapter/CMakeLists.txt` on every build, alongside this plugin's own
 Apache-2.0 `LICENSE` (this project's own first-party code was relicensed from
 GPL-2.0 to Apache-2.0 to match).
-
-## A correction to the design doc
-
-The design doc's open questions say:
-
-> `client-sdk-cpp`'s bundled `LICENSE.md` (~28 distinct third-party license
-> blocks — Google WebRTC, OpenH264, etc.) must ship inside the plugin package
-
-**No such file exists at `v1.10.1`.** Checked, on 2026-09-06:
-
-- The five release archives for this tag (`livekit-sdk-<triple>-1.10.1.tar.gz`
-  / `.zip`) contain only `include/`, `lib/`, `bin/` and
-  `share/livekit/build-info.json`. No licence file of any kind.
-- The repository at tag `v1.10.1` has `LICENSE` (Apache-2.0, 10142 bytes) and
-  `NOTICE` (553 bytes) at its root. There is no `LICENSE.md`, no `NOTICE.md`,
-  and no `THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES` file.
-
-So what ships here is the Apache-2.0 licence and notice, which is what
-actually exists upstream. **The aggregated third-party notice the design doc
-expected — covering the WebRTC/OpenH264/etc. code statically linked inside
-`liblivekit_ffi.so` — has not been located and is not being shipped.** That
-is a real, open licensing question for whoever signs off on distributing
-release binaries, not something this packaging step has resolved. Worth
-raising upstream, or asking counsel whether the Apache-2.0 NOTICE alone
-suffices for a binary redistribution of that library.
-
-## The OpenH264/MPEG-LA royalty question specifically (2026-09-07)
-
-This is narrower and more concrete than the paragraph above, and worth
-tracking separately because it changes the actual risk, not just the
-paperwork:
-
-Cisco's own OpenH264 FAQ (`https://www.openh264.org/faq.html`) draws a sharp
-line: Cisco covers the MPEG-LA/AVC patent-pool royalties **only** for their
-own prebuilt OpenH264 binary module, downloaded at install time by the end
-user's machine. Anyone who compiles OpenH264 source themselves and
-redistributes the result inside their own binary takes on "all applicable
-license fees" themselves — Cisco is explicit that it "will not be liable for
-any licensing fees incurred by other parties" in that case.
-
-LiveKit's `client-sdk-cpp` links Google's `libwebrtc`, built via the
-`webrtc-sdk` org's fork (`github.com/webrtc-sdk/libwebrtc`), whose documented
-build args include `rtc_use_h264=true` and `ffmpeg_branding="Chrome"` — the
-standard Chromium/WebRTC recipe, in which H.264 encode is provided by a
-from-source compile of OpenH264 (pulled from Google's own mirror of the
-Cisco source, not downloaded as Cisco's runtime binary) and statically linked
-into the resulting `libwebrtc`. That is the exact shape of the case Cisco's
-FAQ says voids their royalty coverage.
-
-**This has not been independently confirmed against LiveKit's actual pinned
-build** (their `v1.10.1` release archives ship only compiled `lib/`/`bin/`
-output, no build manifest showing which GN args actually produced them) —
-what's established is that this is `webrtc-sdk/libwebrtc`'s documented
-*default* recipe, not a verified fact about LiveKit's specific artifact. But
-taking it at face value: `liblivekit_ffi`, which this plugin bundles and
-redistributes, likely contains a statically-linked copy of OpenH264 built in
-the way that shifts H.264 patent-royalty liability onto whoever redistributes
-it — i.e., onto a release of this plugin, not onto Cisco or LiveKit.
-
-This is exactly what C1 (see the main `README.md` `## Status` section) is
-tracking, now with a concrete mechanism attached instead of an open question
-mark. It does not resolve C1 — if anything it sharpens the case for treating
-it as unresolved — and it is not a substitute for an actual legal opinion.