Hi,
After reading this article from Slashdot, I looked up the "Legal notices" on Sony Vegas Pro 9 in it's manual. I'm pretty sure that the other major players in that field have similar provisions:
(transcribed from the manual)
MPEGLA and MPEG 2
USE OF THIS PRODUCT IN ANY MANNER THAT COMPLIES WITH THE MPEG-2 STANDARD IS EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED WITHOUT A LICENSE UNDER APPLICABLE PATENTS IN THE MPEG-2 PATENT PORTFOLIO, WHICH LICENSE IS AVAILABLE FROM MPEG-LA, LLC, 250 STEELE STREET, SUITE 300, DENVER, COLORADO 80206
Sony AVC
THIS PRODUCT IS LICENSED UNDER THE AVC PATENT PORTFOLIO LICENSE FOR THE PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE OF A CONSUMER TO (i)ENCODE VIDEO IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE AVC STANDARD ("AVC VIDEO") AND/OR (ii)DECODE AVC VIDEO THAT WAS ENCODED BY A CONSUMER ENGAGED IN A PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY AND/OR WAS OBTAINED FROM A VIDEO PROVIDER LICENSED TO PROVIDE AVC VIDEO. NO LICENSE IS GRANTED OR SHALL BE IMPLIED FOR ANY OTHER USE. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM MPEG LA. L.L.C. SEE HTTP://MPEGLA.COM
Thomson Fraunhofer MP3
MPEG Layer-3 audio coding technology licensed from Fraunhofer IIS and Thomson.
Supply of this product does not convey a license nor imply any right to distribute content created with this product in revenue generating broadcast systems (terrestrial, satellite, cable and/or other distribution channels), streaming applications (via internet, intranets and/or other networks), other content distribution systems (pay-audio or audio on demand applications and the like) or on physical media (compact discs, digital versatile discs, semiconductor chips, hard drives, memory cards and the like). An independent license for such use is required. For details visit: http://mp3licensing.com
How badly does this affect us? I mean, most HDV and HD cameras these days use MPEG-2 and h.264, and unless the owner of the camera have obtained an extra license, and are paying MPEG LA for each take, I read this as any form of production beyond hobby level being prohibited, should MPEG-LA decide to enforce their patents.
From what I can tell, Cineform does not seem to have such restrictions. Of course few end users and probably no home entertainment centres can play that.
After reading this article from Slashdot, I looked up the "Legal notices" on Sony Vegas Pro 9 in it's manual. I'm pretty sure that the other major players in that field have similar provisions:
(transcribed from the manual)
MPEGLA and MPEG 2
USE OF THIS PRODUCT IN ANY MANNER THAT COMPLIES WITH THE MPEG-2 STANDARD IS EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED WITHOUT A LICENSE UNDER APPLICABLE PATENTS IN THE MPEG-2 PATENT PORTFOLIO, WHICH LICENSE IS AVAILABLE FROM MPEG-LA, LLC, 250 STEELE STREET, SUITE 300, DENVER, COLORADO 80206
Sony AVC
THIS PRODUCT IS LICENSED UNDER THE AVC PATENT PORTFOLIO LICENSE FOR THE PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL USE OF A CONSUMER TO (i)ENCODE VIDEO IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE AVC STANDARD ("AVC VIDEO") AND/OR (ii)DECODE AVC VIDEO THAT WAS ENCODED BY A CONSUMER ENGAGED IN A PERSONAL AND NON-COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY AND/OR WAS OBTAINED FROM A VIDEO PROVIDER LICENSED TO PROVIDE AVC VIDEO. NO LICENSE IS GRANTED OR SHALL BE IMPLIED FOR ANY OTHER USE. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM MPEG LA. L.L.C. SEE HTTP://MPEGLA.COM
Thomson Fraunhofer MP3
MPEG Layer-3 audio coding technology licensed from Fraunhofer IIS and Thomson.
Supply of this product does not convey a license nor imply any right to distribute content created with this product in revenue generating broadcast systems (terrestrial, satellite, cable and/or other distribution channels), streaming applications (via internet, intranets and/or other networks), other content distribution systems (pay-audio or audio on demand applications and the like) or on physical media (compact discs, digital versatile discs, semiconductor chips, hard drives, memory cards and the like). An independent license for such use is required. For details visit: http://mp3licensing.com
How badly does this affect us? I mean, most HDV and HD cameras these days use MPEG-2 and h.264, and unless the owner of the camera have obtained an extra license, and are paying MPEG LA for each take, I read this as any form of production beyond hobby level being prohibited, should MPEG-LA decide to enforce their patents.
From what I can tell, Cineform does not seem to have such restrictions. Of course few end users and probably no home entertainment centres can play that.