Re: [rtcweb] H.264 patent licensing options (was: Re: confirming sense of the room: mti codec)

Martin Thomson <martin.thomson@gmail.com> Wed, 10 December 2014 21:59 UTC

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Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 13:59:05 -0800
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From: Martin Thomson <martin.thomson@gmail.com>
To: Florian Weimer <fw@deneb.enyo.de>
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Subject: Re: [rtcweb] H.264 patent licensing options (was: Re: confirming sense of the room: mti codec)
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On 10 December 2014 at 13:46, Florian Weimer <fw@deneb.enyo.de> wrote:
> This rules out commercial use.  Doesn't this fail the “reasonable”
> part of RAND because it is expected that commercial end users obtain a
> separate patent license of their own (which is not part of a product
> that can be purchased)?  If this is still considered “reasonable”, is
> the fact relevant that all published MPEG-LA material about H.264
> refers to patent licensing in a broadcasting context (either the
> production side, or the receiver side)?  This strongly suggests to me
> that they may lack the rights to license H.264 for use in video
> conferencing applications.

I recommend that you consult counsel on these sorts of questions.
Seeking legal opinion on an internet mailing list might not produce
the best results.