[M4IF Discuss] To those concerned about MPEG- 4 Licensing ...

[trbarry trbarry.com]

I've been watching all this as a clueless outsider since the beginning.
And it seems to go round and round.
But it also seems that the MPEG-LA is still holding out for usage fees
on encoded data and I don't think they are going to get them. Even
lowering the usage fees probably wouldn't help. It's the very existence
of the encumbrance   on the data that acts much as if you bought land
with a crippling easement on it. A usage fee of zero that still legally
had the cost of the reporting requirements would still probably be too
much.
In other words, it is one of those things where the transaction costs
make it not worthwhile to collect.
- Tom
| -----Original Message-----
| From: discuss-admin   lists.m4if.org
| [mailto:discuss-admin   lists.m4if.org]On Behalf Of Rob Koenen
| Sent: Wednesday, May 08, 2024 1:56 PM
| To: 'Daniel B. Miller'
| Cc: discuss   lists.m4if.org
| Subject: RE: [M4IF Discuss] To those concerned about MPEG- 4 Licensing
| ...
|
|
| Dan,
|
| Any patent pool should be non-exclusive. So you can negotiate
| with individual companies, and you could even venture to set
| up an alternaive pool to compete with the MPEG LA one (which
| wold need the same essential patents). M4IF actually encourages
| this - competition is good, also here.
|
| On the other hand, all participants in the MPEG standards process
| with patents have agreed by written statement to ISO to reasonable
| and *Non-Discriminatory* licensing. So it's hard for licensors to
| favor one party over the other.
|
| Note, too, that in the case of MPEG LA pools, licensors always pay
| the license as well. There are no inside deals to be cut.
|
| And regardless of all this, we need the license fast - even weeks
| is too long now.
|
| Best,
| Rob
|
|
|
| > -----Original Message-----
| > From: Daniel B. Miller [mailto:dan   on2.com]
| > Sent: Wednesday, May 08, 2024 10:47
| > To: Rob Koenen
| > Cc: 'William J. Fulco'; discuss   lists.m4if.org;
| > discuss-admin   lists.m4if.org
| > Subject: RE: [M4IF Discuss] To those concerned about MPEG-
| 4 Licensing
| > ...
| >
| >
| > > "Side deals" are a non-starter, because the license needs
| > > to be non-discriminatory. (Unless everyone, big and small,
| > > gets the same side deal...)
| > >
| > but isn't it true under MPEG-LA terms that you can negotiate
| > alternative
| > deals directly with the patent-holders?  I believe several of
| > the MPEG-2
| > licensors have done this with each other.  I suspect the
| same thing is
| > happening with MP4, effectively giving them a jump on the
| competition.
| >
| > -dbm
| >
| >
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