[FFmpeg-devel] Patent issues with FFV1

[compn]

On Mon, 10 Jun 2013 16:50:18 -0400, Dave Rice wrote:
>On Jun 10, 2013, at 4:06 PM, John Walko wrote:
>> We have a client we are working with…and were discussing FFV1 and JPEG 2000.  We want her to consider FFV1/Matroska.  She spoke to [ redacted name ] and another person at the [ redacted government archive ], and they raised the potential for FFV1 violating a patent…but our client had no other details. Of course, she is now scared away from FFV1.  I’d like to research
this a little more to find out what they are talking about and see if
it is something we should be concerned over.


usa government has some ffv1 info for video preservation:
http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/formats/fdd/fdd000341.shtml

>Are there any potential patent issues with FFv1?

its best to go with the assumption that everything is patented.
we havent heard of any patents, but we also dont go looking for them.
ffmpeg has been distributing codec/format libraries for 10+ years
without any mention of patent trouble. usually people who use or sell
ffmpeg buy licenses from mpeg-la and other patent holders.

the usa patent office just does not care about people who have
patented the wheel and then sue companies based on the patent.
in fact, most people violate patents every day without knowing about it.
did you use a button to turn on an electronic device? thats patented.

jpeg2000 is patented.
http://www.jpeg.org/jpeg2000/j2kpart1.html
"a number of patent holders have waived their rights toward this end.
However, the JPEG committee cannot make a formal guarantee, and it
remains the responsibility of the implementer to ensure that no patents
are infringed."



> Could such patent issues affect the future ability of an archive to
decode (or encode) FFv1.

no.
most patent lawsuits occur when someone is selling a product.
like apple suing samsung for copying its phone design.
just using a patented product internally generally wont attract lawyers.

i am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice.

-compn