Q: What parts of the H.264 license are included when I buy Adobe Products?
A: The end user license to the Adobe Flash Player allows users to playback H.264 content for your own non-commercial use. Commercial use of the Flash Player to decode H.264 video may require a separate license.
Q: What are H.264’s licensing terms?
A: Licensing terms are available at
www.mpegla.com (H.264) and
www.vialicensing.com (HE-AAC).
Q: What is MPEG LA?
A: MPEG LA is in the business of offering users access under one license to essential patents for standards-based technologies owned by many patent holders. MPEG LA provides these licenses as a convenience to the market in order to save users the time and expense of negotiating individual licenses with multiple patent owners and the resulting payment of many separate royalties. The licenses offered by MPEG LA include patents that are essential to implementation of H.264.
Q: When does MPEG LA require payment of a use fee or royalty, and do I need my own license for H.264 ?
A: MPEG-LA has a number of categories where parties may be required to obtain a license and pay a royalty. Categories include: AVC Products, Title-By-Title Video, Subscription AVC Video, and Internet Broadcast AVC video, among others. Most categories apply to commercial uses and implementations, but some apply more broadly. Whether the license applies to your use; the applicable royalty; and the threshold for application of the royalty varies for each category. You will need to contact MPEG LA or review the license terms to determine if your use falls within a particular category. MPEG LA has posted a FAQ and has a Q&A Department (
[email protected]) for those questions not answered by the FAQ.
