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Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
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H.264 goes royalty-free ... forever

By | August 27, 2010, 5:19am PDT

MPEG LA, the firm that controls licensing for a number of video standards, announced yesterday that it will never charge a royalty fee for videos encoded using H.264, as long as those videos are free to the end user.

MPEG LA announced today that its AVC Patent Portfolio License will continue not to charge royalties for Internet Video that is free to end users (known as “Internet Broadcast AVC Video”) during the entire life of this License. MPEG LA previously announced it would not charge royalties for such video through December 31, 2015 (see http://www.mpegla.com/Lists/MPEG%20LA%20News%20List/Attachments/226/n-10-02-02.pdf), and today’s announcement makes clear that royalties will continue not to be charged for such video beyond that time. Products and services other than Internet Broadcast AVC Video continue to be royalty-bearing.

What does this mean? Well, put simply, it means that the web now has a free to use, high quality video standard, and makes standardized cross-browser support possible. Previously the MPEG LA had announced that it would not charge a royalty for free to user video until at least 2016, but this had made Mozilla and Opera uncomfortable about supporting the platform. Mozilla had previously put its weight behind the Ogg Theora codec which it believed was free of any patent issues (although Apple wasn’t convinced of this, and Microsoft chose not to support this standard in the upcoming IE9). Google also must have had doubts as it acquired On2 earlier this year (the company that initially developed Ogg Theora), giving it access to the VP8 codec. VP8 has some support amongst other browser, but again it’s patchy.

Now this latest statement on H.264 should remove such nagging doubts that browser makers should have about supporting the standard, and this should lead to a true HTML5 web video standard that will be supported on desktop and mobile platforms.

Everyone’s a winner … well, except Adobe. While H.264 does indeed work well with Flash, built-in browser support will eliminate the need to have Flash acting as a middleman, loosening Adobe’s grip on the rich web. Not a bad thing if you ask me.

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Topics

Video, H.264, Corporate Communications, Digital Video, Quality, Marketing, Personal Technology, Business Operations, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

Disclosure

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

All opinions expressed on Hardware 2.0 are those of Adrian Kingsley-Hughes. Every effort is made to ensure that the information posted is accurate. If you have any comments, queries or corrections, please contact Adrian via the email link here. Any possible conflicts of interest will be posted below. [Updated: February 23, 2010] - Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has no business relationships, affiliations, investments, or other actual/potential conflicts of interest relating to the content posted so far on this blog.

Biography

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology -- whether that be by learning to program, building a PC from a pile of parts, or helping them get the most from their new MP3 player or digital camera.

Adrian has authored/co-authored technical books on a variety of topics, ranging from programming to building and maintaining PCs. His most recent books include "Build the Ultimate Custom PC", "Beginning Programming" and "The PC Doctor's Fix It Yourself Guide". He has also written training manuals that have been used by a number of Fortune 500 companies.

Adrian also runs a popular blog under the name The PC Doctor, where he covers a range of computer-related topics -- from security to repairing and upgrading.

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RE: H.264 goes royalty-free
FAULKNE 13th Oct
Good day to confirm this comment I would appreciate T h e b e s t o f Z D N e t d e l i v e r e d your website very nice to everyone Yes, Oracle is the only one with shared-disk architecture, but that is there advantage. It means you can add or remove nodes and the database lives on. In a shared nothing architecture, if you lose a node, you lose the system. I'm sure Oracle appreciates EMC highlighting their advantage.I also desire to signal in your RSS feeds. Thank you as soon as once again and maintain up the great operate Awesome post! Thank you very much || thanks for nice content this is really benefit to me.
View in thread
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H.264 stays royalty-free
IE9 27th Aug 2010
Wrong title.
Internet video was already free since the inception of the IP licensing and is confirmed to be staying free until the end of the licensing
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steve jobs was right then?
banned from zdnet 27th Aug 2010
flash is dead?
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Far from dead
use_what_works_4_U 27th Aug 2010
@banned from zdnet
Flash is far from dead, at least for now. Particularly as long as so much of the Web is supported by advertising, Flash will be in your face. This does mean that one of the uses of Flash becomes less critical, though.
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100 million
banned from zdnet Updated - 27th Aug 2010
@macadam
... users of iOS devices can't see ads in flash + millions of people who use flash blogger in their browsers. advertisers have to adapt to that change in user demography and behavior. otherwise no one can see their ads anymore. they will go with html5 sooner or later.
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RE: H.264 goes royalty-free
dave95. 27th Aug 2010
@banned from zdnet

I agree about them having to adapt to the change. But not only with the new breed of mobile users who just don't care for add banners, which becomes more annoying on these smaller devices than ever before (Slowing down scrolling etc.). But also change in the design/technology behind these Flash ads. They're designed for mouse clicks, not touch.
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RE: H.264 goes royalty-free
use_what_works_4_U Updated - 27th Aug 2010
@banned
You are absolutely right, which is why I said "for now". Flash is on the way out, but it has a long way to go yet.
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RE: H.264 goes royalty-free
rlawler 27th Aug 2010
@macadam Actually it doesn't. Since Flash licenses H.264 and provides a way to deliver H.264 video even in browsers like Firefox and Opera that won't support H.264 due to licensing issues. This "royalty-free" nonsense doesn't cover browsers or applications.
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RE: H.264 goes royalty-free
johndifo 27th Aug 2010
@banned from zdnet
Only those who dont know Adobe technology, say Flash is dead, just wait until HTML5 hit Adobe Motion Graphics and FX patents.
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how about the CE devices
Linux Geek 27th Aug 2010
nothing about them.
How about subscription services broadcasting movies?
Is it free for them?
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RE: H.264 goes royalty-free
rlawler 27th Aug 2010
@Linux Geek NO. It is not free for subscription services.
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Free ... Until We Change Our Mind?
dunraven 27th Aug 2010
What does this truly mean legally? Do they have leverage to change their mind, should they want to? I imagine that with the various groups involved, they are unlikely to do that because of the backlash it would cause. However, is it just a promise of is it legally binding?
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RE: H.264 goes royalty-free
Lerianis10 27th Aug 2010
@dunraven

Public promises like this are usually legally binding. People seem to forget that little fact quite often, that a promise made in public in front of other people is JUST AS LEGALLY BINDING as a signed contract.
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Tell that to Obama
Speednet 27th Aug 2010
@Lerianis10 - I can't remember one of his public promises that he actually kept.
  • Flagged
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How does this change anything for Firefox?
cgarrett 27th Aug 2010
They can't include patent-encumbered video decoding code and remain open-source. This still requires them to support an external plugin in order to maintain their "pure" code.
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RE: H.264 goes royalty-free
rlawler 27th Aug 2010
@cgarrett Also this does not make the use of the H.264 video codec free. A license for codec use in a browser still costs the browser maker millions of dollars.
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where's the catch..??
petem@... 27th Aug 2010
im still waiting for the "catch" to come thru..!! another thing is that no one should drop the continued development of the other codecs.. VP8..etc..... the continued developement should continue putting pressure on the H.264 consortium...
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RE: H.264 goes royalty-free
rlawler Updated - 27th Aug 2010
@petem@...
The "catch" is that this only covers delivery of "free-to-end-user" H.264-encoded video over the internet.

Encoding that video is not royalty free. Delivering that video by any other means besides the internet (such as on a disc) is not royalty free. Any video that is not "free-to-end-users" such as video included as part of a paid-for product, subscription services, even potentially video that is revenue-generating such as any video with embedded or integrated advertising is not royalty-free. Applications with H.264 video playback ability such as a browser like Firefox would not be royalty free. (That's one of the reasons Firefox is not going to support H.264.) Video editors that encode and decode H.264 are not royalty free. Operating systems that provide H.264 encoding and decoding are not royalty free. Hardware devices such as smartphones and camcorders that provide H.264 encoding and decoding are not royalty free.
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This is good news
Speednet 27th Aug 2010
I hope Mozilla and Opera make some quick announcements regarding support for H.264, now that it is a free-forever standard. That would take a major content wrinkle out of HTML5 - no more double-encoding media files as both MP4 and OGG.
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RE: H.264 goes royalty-free
rlawler 27th Aug 2010
@Speednet Mozilla/Firefox has made their position clear, and they've re-iterated that with respect to this recent change in the H.264 royalty-free free internet content timeline. This PR stunt by MPEG-LA changes nothing.
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I haven't heard any such thing
Speednet 27th Aug 2010
@rlawler - And apparently neither has Adrian, because he said:

"Now this latest statement on H.264 should remove such nagging doubts that browser makers should have about supporting the standard, and this should lead to a true HTML5 web video standard that will be supported on desktop and mobile platforms."

Calling this a "PR stunt" is strange in the extreme. Do you think the only solution to a unified codec is to adopt OGG? That's what your statement would seem to imply.
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RE: H.264 goes royalty-free
BallantyneGuy 27th Aug 2010
Great news!

Brian
http://mailVU.com
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Shamefully WRONG headline!
rlawler 27th Aug 2010
This is really just a PR stunt by MPEG-LA.

This announcement doesn't change anything. It won't cause Firefox or Mozilla to adopt H.264.

Lastly, if anything, this probably helps Flash and Adobe since Flash supports H.264 and is widely deployed even in browsers that won't be licensing the H.264 codec for direct use via HTML5.
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Flash is far from dead...
D. W. Bierbaum 28th Aug 2010
because it's so much more than just a video format. This is why Hulu is going to still use flash, as they have things like securing content and ad tracking, which Flash can do, and html 5 can't.
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Not really royalty free
Slated 1st Sep 2010
This only applies to broadcasts, not applications:

"Now the MPEG-LA has lifted royalties from the license entirely, but it will continue to charge when H.264 is used for products and services other than free video broadcast, including applications that encode and decode video."

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/08/26/mpegla_v_google/
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RE: H.264 goes royalty-free
MACKENZI 11th Sep
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RE: H.264 goes royalty-free
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RE: H.264 goes royalty-free
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RE: H.264 goes royalty-free
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RE: H.264 goes royalty-free
TOCCAR 25th Sep
Well welcome, hopefully you can become a vital member of the community and really help to push far ahead of google. Which Im sure the development team would love. This will of course earn you alot points too and get you on the leaders board. z d n e t t h a n k Im not sure i come to an agreement with you on every level, howevor it absolutely was a good posting, many thanks for taking the time to put up your ideas.
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RE: H.264 goes royalty-free
MCKNIGH 26th Sep
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RE: H.264 goes royalty-free
MEJIAHA 30th Sep
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0 Votes
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RE: H.264 goes royalty-free
FAULKNE 13th Oct
Good day to confirm this comment I would appreciate T h e b e s t o f Z D N e t d e l i v e r e d your website very nice to everyone Yes, Oracle is the only one with shared-disk architecture, but that is there advantage. It means you can add or remove nodes and the database lives on. In a shared nothing architecture, if you lose a node, you lose the system. I'm sure Oracle appreciates EMC highlighting their advantage.I also desire to signal in your RSS feeds. Thank you as soon as once again and maintain up the great operate Awesome post! Thank you very much || thanks for nice content this is really benefit to me.

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