MPEG LA Makes H.264 Royalty Free For End Users

In a move that should help HTML 5 adaption, MPEG LA has decided to allow H.264 video playback to be royalty free.  H.264 is one of the proposed specs for HTML 5 video for streaming online content.  Unfortunately, for-profit content providers will still need to pay licensing fees to use this technology. 

 

Press Release: 

For Immediate Release

CONTACT:

Tom O’Reilly MPEG LA, LLC Tel: 303.200.1710 Fax: 301.986.8575 toreilly@mpegla.com

MPEG LA’s AVC License Will Not Charge Royalties for Internet Video that is Free to End Users through Life of License

(DENVER, CO, US – 26 August 2010) – 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 (seehttp://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.

MPEG LA's AVC Patent Portfolio License provides access to essential patent rights for theAVC/H.264 (MPEG-4 Part 10) digital video coding standard. In addition to Internet Broadcast AVCVideo, MPEG LA’s AVC Patent Portfolio License provides coverage for devices that decode and encode AVC video, AVC video sold to end users for a fee on a title or subscription basis and free television video services. AVC video is used in set-top boxes, media player and other personal computer software, mobile devices including telephones and mobile television receivers, Blu-rayDiscTM players and recorders, Blu-ray video optical discs, game machines, personal media player devices and still and video cameras.

For more information about MPEG LA’s AVC License or to request a copy of the License, please visit http://www.mpegla.com/main/programs/AVC/Pages/Intro.aspx .