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Re: [rtcweb] H.264 patent licensing options

Florian Weimer <fw@deneb.enyo.de> Thu, 11 December 2014 07:24 UTC

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From: Florian Weimer <fw@deneb.enyo.de>
To: Martin Thomson <martin.thomson@gmail.com>
References: <E3FA0C72-48C5-465E-AE15-EB19D8D563A7@ieca.com> <54820E74.90201@mozilla.com> <54861AD6.8090603@reavy.org> <BBF5DDFE515C3946BC18D733B20DAD233998AC05@XMB122CNC.rim.net> <63BC3D6D-03A1-41C2-B92D-C8DD57DC51DB@nostrum.com> <BBF5DDFE515C3946BC18D733B20DAD233998ADF1@XMB122CNC.rim.net> <87d27r9o0a.fsf_-_@mid.deneb.enyo.de> <CABkgnnVYNjYAM=WhpuURHMUkU4mtT7E3a5yvqSG7+fGKXKOoNw@mail.gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 08:24:18 +0100
In-Reply-To: <CABkgnnVYNjYAM=WhpuURHMUkU4mtT7E3a5yvqSG7+fGKXKOoNw@mail.gmail.com> (Martin Thomson's message of "Wed, 10 Dec 2014 13:59:05 -0800")
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Subject: Re: [rtcweb] H.264 patent licensing options
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* Martin Thomson:

> 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.

This is about IETF policy towards RAND licensing.  It's a working
group and IETF decision, not something that can be left to lawyers.

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