Is H.264 a legal minefield for video pros? – CNET News
With all the hoopla around video codecs, both open and closed source, here’s a bit of reporting covering MPEG LA terms around what is poised to be the next great standard on the net, h.264. Why does this matter? Because of patents, someone has to pay when I produce a video for a client which is later sold. And there are always patents. This story certainly goes a long way to ease my own concerns over royalty payments to patent holders, particularly the last part, emphasis mine:
“Realistically, it’s unlikely that a consumer who unwittingly plays a video clip from an unlicensed source is going to be pursued by MPEG-LA or by patent owners. The legal framework for patent damages is different than it is in the copyright area, so you’re not likely to see lawsuits against ordinary consumers, like some of the highly publicized suits filed by the RIAA [Recording Industry of America] in the United States,” Homiller said.
Another way where professionals can get off the hook for payments is if the video is broadcast for free over the Internet. Earlier this year, MPEG LA extended through 2015 a provision that means streaming H.264 video over the Net requires no royalty payments as long as anyone can see the video without paying.