[MPEGIF Discuss] MPEG LA Announces Terms of Joint H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Patent License
"Rob Koenen \(MPEGIF\)" <rob.koenen-8/[email protected]> Tue, 18 Nov 2003 10:09:27 +0100
| Newsgroups | gmane.comp.video.mpeg4.general |
|---|---|
| Organization | MPEGIF |
| Message-ID | <D5987FFC5C2504499274E608BA47C51B606C39@exch-1.corp.intertrust.com> |
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --===============23520552585249677== Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0010_01C3ADBC.0F585550" This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0010_01C3ADBC.0F585550 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Discuss list, The release below was issued yesterday.=20 As I have stated before, it is positive that apparently the need for = rapid availability of these terms is being understood, and that the licensors = seem to have recognized a number of concerns that have been raised in the = context of the MPEG-4 part 2 license. As in the past, we need to understand the exact consequences. MPEGIF welcomes discussions on this list on the terms as the have been released = by the two licensing agents working on a joint AVC license. A summary of relevant news links can be found here: <http://www.m4if.org/patents/> http://www.m4if.org/patents/=20 We are also seeking to host a phone Q&A session with the licensing = agents in the near future, for MPEGIF members. Kind Regards, Rob Koenen President, MPEGIF ______________________________________ NEWS RELEASE=20 For Immediate Release CONTACT: Lawrence Horn MPEG LA, LLC 301.986.6660 301.986.8575 Fax [email protected] MPEG LA Announces Terms of Joint H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Patent License (Denver, Colorado, USA - 17 November 2003) MPEG LA today announced that essential H.264/MPEG-4 AVC patent and patent application holders have reached agreement on the terms of a joint patent license for = implementation and use of ITU-T H.264 and MPEG-4 Part 10 AVC (=93AVC Standard=94).=20 =93For essential intellectual property holders of such wide diversity to = agree on the terms of a joint license in just a matter of months is a = remarkable achievement, giving testimony to their support for the AVC standard and their desire to make this promising new technology widely available to = the market in the fastest time possible,=94 said MPEG LA CEO Baryn S. Futa. = =93MPEG LA congratulates each of them for their extraordinary diligence and cooperation, despite differences, in coming together for the benefit of = the marketplace. We also thank potential users across all market sectors = for their forthrightness in sharing with us their concern for licensing = terms that are simple, reasonable and easy to administer. This helped = immensely in the group=92s efforts to make the license terms responsive to = marketplace needs.=94 Following is a brief summary of the licensing terms, which are yet to be incorporated into definitive license agreements and therefore, provided = for information purposes only. These terms cover the entire AVC Standard regardless of which Profile(s) are used: Decoder-Encoder Royalties * Royalties to be paid by end product manufacturers for an encoder, a decoder or both (=93unit=94) begin at US $0.20 per unit after the first = 100,000 units each year. There are no royalties on the first 100,000 units each year. Above 5 million units per year, the royalty is US $0.10 per unit. = =20 =20 * The maximum royalty for these rights payable by an Enterprise (company and greater than 50% owned subsidiaries) is $3.5 million per = year in 2005-2006, $4.25 million per year in 2007-08 and $5 million per year = in 2009-10. =20 =20 * In addition, in recognition of existing distribution channels, under certain circumstances an Enterprise selling decoders or encoders both = (i) as end products under its own brand name to end users for use in personal computers and (ii) for incorporation under its brand name into personal computers sold to end users by other licensees, also may pay royalties = on behalf of the other licensees for the decoder and encoder products incorporated in (ii) limited to $10.5 million per year in 2005-2006, $11 million per year in 2007-2008 and $11.5 million per year in 2009-2010. =20 * The initial term of the license is through December 31, 2010. To encourage early market adoption and start-up, the License will provide a grace period in which no royalties will be payable on decoders and = encoders sold before January 1, 2005.=20 Participation Fees * Title-by-Title =96 For AVC video (either on physical media or ordered and paid for on title-by-title basis, e.g., PPV, VOD, or digital = download, where viewer determines titles to be viewed or number of viewable titles = are otherwise limited), there are no royalties up to 12 minutes in length. = For AVC video greater than 12 minutes in length, royalties are the lower of = (a) 2% of the price paid to the licensee from licensee=92s first arms length = sale or (b) $0.02 per title. Categories of licensees include (i) replicators = of physical media, and (ii) service/content providers (e.g., cable, = satellite, video DSL, internet and mobile) of VOD, PPV and electronic downloads to = end users.=20 =20 * Subscription =96 For AVC video provided on a subscription basis (not ordered title-by-title), no royalties are payable by a system = (satellite, internet, local mobile or local cable franchise) consisting of 100,000 = or fewer subscribers in a year. For systems with greater than 100,000 AVC video subscribers, the annual participation fee is $25,000 per year up = to 250,000 subscribers, $50,000 per year for greater than 250,000 AVC video subscribers up to 500,000 subscribers, $75,000 per year for greater than 500,000 AVC video subscribers up to 1,000,000 subscribers, and $100,000 = per year for greater than 1,000,000 AVC video subscribers. =20 * Over-the-air free broadcast =96 There are no royalties for over-the-air free broadcast AVC video to markets of 100,000 or fewer households. For over-the-air free broadcast AVC video to markets of = greater than 100,000 households, royalties are $10,000 per year per local market service (by a transmitter or transmitter simultaneously with repeaters, e.g., multiple transmitters serving one station). =20 * Internet broadcast (non-subscription, not title-by-title) =96 Since this market is still developing, no royalties will be payable for = internet broadcast services (non-subscription, not title-by-title) during the = initial term of the license (which runs through December 31, 2010) and then = shall not exceed the over-the-air free broadcast TV encoding fee during the renewal term. =20 * The maximum royalty for Participation rights payable by an Enterprise (company and greater than 50% owned subsidiaries) is $3.5 = million per year in 2006-2007, $4.25 million in 2008-09 and $5 million in 2010. = =20 * As noted above, the initial term of the license is through December 31, 2010. To encourage early marketplace adoption and start-up, the = License will provide for a grace period in which no Participation Fees will be payable for products or services sold before January 1, 2006.=20 Owners of patents or patent applications determined by MPEG LA=92s = patent experts to be essential to the AVC Standard and who have cooperated in = the above terms include Columbia University, Electronics and = Telecommunications Research Institute of Korea (ETRI), France T=E9l=E9com, Fujitsu, LG = Electronics, Matsushita, Mitsubishi, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Philips, Robert = Bosch GmbH, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Toshiba, and Victor Company of Japan (JVC). MPEG LA continues to welcome the submission of patents and patent applications for an evaluation of their essentiality to the AVC Standard = in order to include as much essential intellectual property as possible = under one license for the benefit of the marketplace (only issued patents will = be included in the License). For each patent or patent application = submitted, an evaluation fee of US $8,500.00 to cover the outside cost of the = patent expert=92s evaluation is paid to MPEG LA. Additional fees may be = required to cover additional outside costs in the event of reevaluation by patent experts. Submitting parties must confirm their agreement with the terms = and procedures governing the patent submission process which may be obtained from Jane Tannenbaum, Director, Contract Administration ([email protected]). # # # MPEG LA, LLC MPEG LA successfully pioneered one-stop technology standards licensing = with a portfolio of essential patents for the international digital video compression standard known as MPEG-2. One-stop technology standards licensing enables widespread technological implementation, = interoperability and use of fundamental broad-based technologies covered by many patents owned by many patent holders. MPEG LA provides users with fair, = reasonable, nondiscriminatory access to these essential patents on a worldwide basis under a single license. MPEG LA is an independent licensing = administrator; it is not a patent holder and is not related to any standards agency. = In addition to MPEG-2, MPEG LA licenses portfolios of essential patents for = the IEEE 1394 Standard, the DVB-T Standard, the MPEG-4 Visual Standard and = the MPEG-4 Systems Standard. MPEG LA also has initiated a license for = digital rights management (DRM) technologies as described in DRM Reference Model v1.0. For more information, please refer to http://www.mpegla.com <http://www.mpegla.com/> , http://www.1394la.com = <http://www.1394la.com/> and http://www.dvbla.com <http://www.dvbla.com/> . ------=_NextPart_000_0010_01C3ADBC.0F585550 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Message</TITLE> <META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; = charset=3Diso-8859-1"> <META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2800.1276" name=3DGENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY><!-- Converted from text/plain format --> <P><FONT face=3DVerdana color=3D#0000ff size=3D2>Discuss = list,</FONT></P> <P><FONT face=3DVerdana color=3D#0000ff size=3D2>The release below was = issued=20 yesterday. </FONT></P> <P><FONT face=3DVerdana color=3D#0000ff size=3D2>As I have stated = before, it is=20 positive that apparently the need for rapid availability of these = terms is=20 being understood, and that the licensors seem to have recognized a = number of=20 concerns that have been raised in the context of the MPEG-4 part 2=20 license.</FONT></P> <P><FONT face=3DVerdana size=3D2><FONT color=3D#0000ff>As in the past, = we need to=20 understand the exact consequences. MPEGIF welcomes discussions on this = list on=20 the terms as the have been released by the two licensing agents working = on a=20 joint AVC license. A summary of relevant news links can be found here: = </FONT><A=20 href=3D"http://www.m4if.org/patents/"><FONT=20 color=3D#0000ff>http://www.m4if.org/patents/</FONT></A><FONT = color=3D#0000ff>=20 </FONT></FONT></P> <P><FONT face=3DVerdana color=3D#0000ff size=3D2>We are also seeking to = host a phone=20 Q&A session with the licensing agents in the near future, for MPEGIF = members.</FONT></P> <P><FONT face=3DVerdana color=3D#0000ff size=3D2>Kind = Regards,</FONT></P> <P><FONT face=3DVerdana color=3D#0000ff size=3D2>Rob = Koenen<BR>President,=20 MPEGIF<BR></FONT><FONT face=3DVerdana color=3D#0000ff=20 size=3D2>______________________________________</FONT></P> <P><FONT face=3DArial><B>NEWS RELEASE</B> </FONT></P> <P><FONT face=3DArial><B>For Immediate = Release</B><BR>CONTACT:<BR>Lawrence=20 Horn<BR>MPEG LA, LLC<BR>301.986.6660<BR>301.986.8575 Fax<BR><A=20 href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</A></FONT></P><SPAN=20 style=3D"FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> <H1 style=3D"TEXT-ALIGN: left" align=3Dcenter><SPAN=20 style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">MPEG LA = Announces=20 Terms of Joint H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Patent License</SPAN></H1> <P class=3DMsoNormal>(Denver, Colorado, USA - 17 November 2003) = MPEG LA=20 today announced that essential H.264/MPEG-4 AVC patent and patent = application=20 holders have reached agreement on the terms of a joint patent license = for=20 implementation and use of ITU-T H.264 and MPEG-4 Part 10 AVC (=93AVC = Standard=94).=20 </SPAN></P> <P class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN style=3D"FONT-FAMILY: Arial">=93For essential = intellectual=20 property holders of such wide diversity to agree on the terms of a joint = license=20 in just a matter of months is a remarkable achievement, giving testimony = to=20 their support for the AVC standard and their desire to make this = promising new=20 technology widely available to the market in the fastest time = possible,=94 said=20 MPEG LA CEO Baryn S. Futa. =93MPEG LA congratulates each of them = for their=20 extraordinary diligence and cooperation, despite differences, in coming = together=20 for the benefit of the marketplace. We also thank </SPAN><FONT=20 face=3DArial>potential users across all market sectors for their = forthrightness in=20 sharing with us their concern for </FONT><SPAN=20 style=3D"FONT-FAMILY: Arial">licensing terms that are simple, reasonable = and easy=20 to administer. This helped immensely in the group=92s efforts to = make the=20 license terms responsive to marketplace needs.=94</SPAN></P> <P class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN style=3D"FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Following is a = brief summary=20 of the licensing terms, which are yet to be incorporated into definitive = license=20 agreements and therefore, provided for information purposes only. = These=20 terms cover the entire AVC Standard regardless of which Profile(s) are=20 used:</SPAN></P> <P class=3DMsoNormal><U><SPAN style=3D"FONT-FAMILY: = Arial">Decoder-Encoder=20 Royalties</SPAN></U></P> <UL style=3D"MARGIN-TOP: 0in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in" type=3Ddisc> <LI class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN style=3D"FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Royalties to = be paid by=20 end product manufacturers for an encoder, a decoder or both = (=93unit=94) begin at=20 US $0.20 per unit after the first 100,000 units each year. There = are no=20 royalties on the first 100,000 units each year. Above 5 million = units=20 per year, the royalty is US $0.10 per unit. <BR> </SPAN>=20 <LI class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN style=3D"FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The maximum = royalty for=20 these rights payable by an Enterprise (company and greater than 50% = owned=20 subsidiaries) is $3.5 million per year in 2005-2006, $4.25 million per = year in=20 2007-08 and $5 million per year in 2009-10. <BR> </SPAN>=20 <LI class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN style=3D"FONT-FAMILY: Arial">In addition, = in=20 recognition of existing distribution channels, under certain = circumstances an=20 Enterprise selling decoders or encoders both (i) as end products under = its own=20 brand name to end users for use in personal computers and (ii) for=20 incorporation under its brand name into personal computers sold to end = users=20 by other licensees, also may pay royalties on behalf of the other = licensees=20 for the decoder and encoder products incorporated in (ii) limited to = $10.5=20 million per year in 2005-2006, $11 million per year in 2007-2008 and = $11.5=20 million per year in 2009-2010.<BR> </SPAN>=20 <LI class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN style=3D"FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The initial = term of the=20 license is through December 31, 2010. To encourage early market = adoption=20 and start-up, the License will provide a grace period in which no = royalties=20 will be payable on decoders and encoders sold before January 1, = 2005.</SPAN>=20 </LI></UL> <P class=3DMsoNormal><U><SPAN style=3D"FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Participation = Fees</SPAN></U></P> <UL style=3D"MARGIN-TOP: 0in; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in" type=3Ddisc> <LI class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN style=3D"FONT-FAMILY: = Arial">Title-by-Title =96 For AVC=20 video (either on physical media or ordered and paid for on = title-by-title=20 basis, e.g., PPV, VOD, or digital download, where viewer determines = titles to=20 be viewed or number of viewable titles are otherwise limited), there = are no=20 royalties up to 12 minutes in length. For AVC video greater than = 12=20 minutes in length, royalties are the lower of (a) 2% of the price paid = to the=20 licensee from licensee=92s first arms length sale or (b) $0.02 per = title. =20 Categories of licensees include (i) replicators of physical media, and = (ii)=20 service/content providers (e.g., cable, satellite, video DSL, internet = and=20 mobile) of VOD, PPV and electronic downloads to end users.=20 <BR> </SPAN>=20 <LI class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN style=3D"FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Subscription = <A=20 name=3DOLE_LINK5>=96</A> For AVC video provided on a subscription = basis (not=20 ordered title-by-title), no royalties are payable <A = name=3DOLE_LINK2>by a=20 system (satellite, internet, local mobile or local cable franchise) = consisting=20 of 100,000 or fewer subscribers in a year. For systems with = greater than=20 100,000 AVC video subscribers, the annual participation fee is $25,000 = per=20 year up to 250,000 subscribers, $50,000 per year for greater than = 250,000 AVC=20 video subscribers up to 500,000 subscribers, $75,000 per year for = greater than=20 500,000 AVC video subscribers up to 1,000,000 subscribers, and = $100,000 per=20 year for greater than 1,000,000 AVC video subscribers</A><A=20 name=3DOLE_LINK3>.</A></SPAN><FONT face=3DArial><BR> </FONT>=20 <LI class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN style=3D"FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Over-the-air = free=20 broadcast =96 There are no royalties for <A = name=3DOLE_LINK1>over-the-air free=20 broadcast AVC video to markets of 100,000 or fewer = households</A>. For=20 over-the-air free broadcast AVC video to markets of greater than = 100,000=20 households, royalties are $10,000 per year per local market service = (by a=20 transmitter or transmitter simultaneously with repeaters, e.g., = multiple=20 transmitters serving one station).<BR> </SPAN>=20 <LI class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN style=3D"FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Internet = broadcast <A=20 name=3DOLE_LINK4>(non-subscription, not title-by-title) </A>=96 Since = this market=20 is still developing, no royalties will be payable for internet = broadcast=20 services (non-subscription, not title-by-title) during the initial = term of the=20 license (which runs through December 31, 2010) and then shall not = exceed the=20 over-the-air free broadcast TV encoding fee during the renewal=20 term.<BR> </SPAN>=20 <LI class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN style=3D"FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The maximum = royalty for=20 Participation rights payable by an Enterprise (company and greater = than 50%=20 owned subsidiaries) is $3.5 million per year in 2006-2007, $4.25 = million in=20 2008-09 and $5 million in 2010. <BR> </SPAN>=20 <LI class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN style=3D"FONT-FAMILY: Arial">As noted = above, the=20 initial term of the license is through December 31, 2010. To = encourage=20 early marketplace adoption and start-up, the License will provide for = a grace=20 period in which no Participation Fees will be payable for products or = services=20 sold before January 1, 2006.</SPAN> </LI></UL> <P class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN style=3D"FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Owners of = patents or patent=20 applications determined by MPEG LA=92s patent experts to be essential to = the AVC=20 Standard and who have cooperated in the above terms include <SPAN=20 style=3D"COLOR: black">Columbia University, Electronics and = Telecommunications=20 Research Institute of Korea (ETRI), France T=E9l=E9com, Fujitsu, LG = Electronics,=20 Matsushita, Mitsubishi, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Philips, = </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN=20 style=3D"COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Robert Bosch GmbH, Samsung, = Sharp,=20 Sony, Toshiba, and Victor Company of Japan (JVC).</SPAN></P> <P class=3DMsoNormal><SPAN style=3D"FONT-FAMILY: Arial">MPEG LA = continues to welcome=20 the submission of patents and patent applications for an evaluation of = their=20 essentiality to the AVC Standard in order to include as much essential=20 intellectual property as possible under one license for the benefit of = the=20 marketplace (only issued patents will be included in the License). = For=20 each patent or patent application submitted, an evaluation fee of US = $8,500.00=20 to cover the outside cost of the patent expert=92s evaluation is paid to = MPEG=20 LA. Additional fees may be required to cover additional outside = costs in=20 the event of reevaluation by patent experts. Submitting parties = must=20 confirm their agreement with the terms and procedures governing the = patent=20 submission process which may be obtained from Jane Tannenbaum, Director, = Contract Administration (<U><SPAN style=3D"COLOR: blue"><A=20 style=3D"COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline; text-underline: = single"=20 href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</A></SPAN><= /U>).</SPAN></P> <P class=3DMsoBodyText2 style=3D"TEXT-ALIGN: center" = align=3Dcenter><SPAN=20 style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"># = # =20 #</SPAN></P> <P class=3DMsoBodyText2 style=3D"TEXT-ALIGN: left" align=3Dleft><B><SPAN = style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">MPEG LA, = LLC<BR></SPAN></B><SPAN=20 style=3D"FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><BR>MPEG LA successfully pioneered one-stop = technology standards licensing with a portfolio of essential patents for = the=20 international digital video compression standard known as MPEG-2. = One-stop=20 technology standards licensing enables widespread technological = implementation,=20 interoperability and use of fundamental broad-based technologies covered = by many=20 patents owned by many patent holders. MPEG LA provides users with fair,=20 reasonable, nondiscriminatory access to these essential patents on a = worldwide=20 basis under a single license. MPEG LA is an independent licensing=20 administrator; it is not a patent holder and is not related to any = standards=20 agency. In addition to MPEG-2, MPEG LA licenses portfolios of = essential=20 patents for the IEEE 1394 Standard, the DVB-T Standard, the MPEG-4 = Visual=20 Standard and the MPEG-4 Systems Standard. MPEG LA also has = initiated a=20 license for digital rights management (DRM) technologies as described in = DRM=20 Reference Model v1.0. For more information, please refer to <A=20 style=3D"COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline; text-underline: = single"=20 href=3D"http://www.mpegla.com/">http://www.mpegla.com</A>, <A=20 style=3D"COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline; text-underline: = single"=20 href=3D"http://www.1394la.com/">http://www.1394la.com</A> and <A=20 style=3D"COLOR: blue; TEXT-DECORATION: underline; text-underline: = single"=20 href=3D"http://www.dvbla.com/">http://www.dvbla.com</A>.</SPAN></P></BODY= ></HTML> ------=_NextPart_000_0010_01C3ADBC.0F585550-- --===============23520552585249677== Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list Discuss-wvgAS0I8NaWTm/[email protected] http://lists.mpegif.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss --===============23520552585249677==--