AV1 and Legal Challenges: Does the Codec Have a Future?
跟踪知识产权(IP)相关策略的状态是任何编码专业人员工作的一部分. 这里有两个问题的最新进展，以及我对amedia Video 1 (AV1)编解码器的IP状态的看法.
去年发生的一起可怕的诉讼是诺基亚起诉苹果H.264 infringement, as Nokia was pursuing an interesting strategy 这可能会将编码器相关专利排除在公平之外, reasonable, 以及适用于作为标准一部分的技术的非歧视(FRAND)定价限制. Apple and Nokia settled that litigation in May, with Apple paying Nokia an undisclosed sum. 对于我们大多数小型生产商来说，这毫无意义，但如果你要运送大量的H.264 encoders, decoders, or both, and you’re not currently writing a check to Nokia, expect a call soon.
2016年末，另一个与ip相关的转变是MPEG la赞助的DASH(动态自适应HTTP流)组. 我从几个渠道听到的是，大多数大公司打算忽视该组织，除非该组织的一个或多个成员提起侵权诉讼. The collective thought is that DASH is, in essence, a scheme involving text-based manifest files, which is not particularly impressive to begin with, and that most of the heavy lifting was done by Cisco, Qualcomm, and Microsoft, 哪些不属于版税集团，也不要求版税. With proposed royalties totaling $30 million per year, 大公司似乎更愿意孤注一掷使专利无效，而不是自愿掏钱. Interestingly, 当我在6月8日查看列表时，该组的MPEG LA被许可人列表为零项. So we’ll see.
关于开放媒体联盟的AV1编解码器的法律地位, 有一种普遍的感觉是，AV1将受到挑战，很可能会输，因为在编解码器中“肯定”存在一些侵权技术. BAMTech的首席技术官Joe Inzerillo的评论就是典型的例子 keynote talk at Streaming Media East, 他说，“严肃的公司”不应该把时间浪费在一项最终未经法律证明的“免费”技术上. In my view, Joe is one of the brightest stars in our universe, and certainly has access to better lawyers than I do, but I’m going to disagree.
首先，联盟成员包括Adobe、Amazon、AMD、ARM、Bitmovin、Broadcom、Chips等&Media, Cisco, Google, Intel, Ittiam Systems, Microsoft, Mozilla, Netflix, NVIDIA, and Realtek, which are, in anyone’s view, some pretty serious companies.
Second, before Google acquired On2, 早期的VPx编解码器在没有任何专利要求的情况下取得了巨大的成功. 这包括VP6，它是H之前Flash的“it”编解码器.以及Skype和Move Networks使用的VP7. 然后谷歌收购了On2，并发布了VP8和VP9，两者都被YouTube广泛使用. 诺基亚在德国申请了一项专利，但失败了，仅此而已.
True, Google licensed H.当MPEG LA形成VP9专利池时，VP8/ VP9专利为264项, 但我与谷歌人员的讨论表明，这是为了避免旷日持久的知识产权问题而粉饰门面, not a legal necessity.
Regarding the Alliance, 我假设每个成员都对底层编解码器技术进行了自己的尽职调查. All these companies will be deploying the codec, 如果技术确实侵权，就会产生潜在的版税. During codec development, 所有对AV1的贡献都要经过知识产权索赔的双重审查, first by the company making the contribution, then by an outside law firm and other experts.
假设AV1将因H的知识产权索赔而萎缩.264/HEVC阵营也认为谷歌和联盟的所有成员买了一头戳中猪, 一个潜在的问题，他们觉得他们无法在法庭上辩护或通过谈判解决. Serious companies don’t do that.
我没有研究过潜在的IP，所以我不能做出明智的决定. From my perspective, 假设拥有数十亿市场份额的公司正在做出一个愚蠢的与ip相关的决定，这几乎总是一个错误的假设.
[本文发表于2017年7月/ 8月号。 Streaming Media Magazine as "AV1: Follow the Money."]
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