Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sun 10th Mar 2013 13:07 UTC
A few days ago, Google and the MPEG-LA announced that they had come to an agreement under which Google received a license for techniques in VP8 that may infringe upon MPEG-LA patents (note the 'if any'). Only a few days later, we learn the real reason behind Google and the MPEG-LA striking a deal, thanks to The H Open, making it clear that the MPEG-LA has lost. Big time. Update: Chris Montgomery: "The wording suggests Google paid some money to grease this along, and the agreement wording is interesting [and instructive] but make no mistake: Google won. Full stop."
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Member since:
2010-10-05
Do you seriously believe that? If MPEG LA had any ground to stand on, they'd be running the pool themselves, deciding the licensing terms and rates (they'd never allow free sublicensing) and getting their fee. Just like they do for VC1, Microsoft's codec that Microsoft originally wanted to be royalty free.
What likely happened here is, Google approached those 11 patent holders and agreed on licensing deals with them. This left MPEG LA without anyone in their pool. Google then offered MPEG LA to sign an agreement, allowing MPEG LA to save face and maybe get some fee, in return for discontinuing the pool.