Trying to kill Theora – MPEG LA extends royalty free use of H.264 for Internet streaming

So the MPEG LA has extended the royalty free life of Internet streaming H.264 video from the end of 2010 to the end of 2016. The majority of patents expire in 2028, so that will still give them plenty of time to collect on royalties, if we let them.

Make no mistake, this is about stifling the adoption of Theora in order to become the de-facto standard. MPEG LA is trying to kill Theora, but we must not let that happen! We need an open web.

If you use H.264 for ANY OTHER PURPOSE today, you still need a license. Yes, that means you Mr. Linux user ripping your DVD’s to H.264..

2 thoughts on “Trying to kill Theora – MPEG LA extends royalty free use of H.264 for Internet streaming

  1. Chris

    According to Section 67 of the Patents Act 1990

    “The term of a standard patent is 20 years from the date of the patent.”

    That might make the quoted expiry date of 2028 a bit of a stretch

  2. Just quoting what I’ve read elsewhere, I assume that there are some components (not all of it) which might have only been patented in 2008, hence 2028 is legitimate. Some further research might clarify this, but I’m on holidays atm 🙂

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