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The licensing program for MP3-related patents has been terminated

iis.fraunhofer.de

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Re: The licensing program for MP3-related patents has been terminated

#31

Post by davidgerard »

derefr wrote: post #8

So, now that the "but MP3 is patent-encumbered" consideration is finally dead-ish, what's the new balance on the debate between shipping {MP3, MP4-AAC, MKV-Vorbis, MKV-Opus} as music/SFX assets in software products? Also, with the two sub-considerations: • on mobile, where hardware decoding exists for only some codecs; • on the web, where the audio APIs only accept some of these formats/codecs.

If it's assets in a program you're also supplying, Ogg Vorbis has been typical for a while now. Presumably Opus does better though.

Re: The licensing program for MP3-related patents has been terminated

#32

Post by TD-Linux »

notaplumber wrote: post #11

Recognizing this adds legitimacy to software patents. Don't. There have been free and open source MP3 decoders for many years now.

Not believing in software patents is unlikely to change a court's mind. Instead, support formats that are royalty free from the start - Vorbis, Opus, and Codec2, for example.

Re: The licensing program for MP3-related patents has been terminated

#35

Post by BIackSwan »

I highly recommend "How Music Got Free" for an entertaining and illuminating read of MP3 and how it changed the world - for the better or worse.

It also delves into how Fraunhofer (and its creator) benefited monetarily from its adoption.

Link - https://www.amazon.com/How-Music-Got-Free-Obsession-ebook/dp...

Re: The licensing program for MP3-related patents has been terminated

#36

Post by kken »

davidgerard wrote: post #30
Gaelan wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Were they involved in the creation of MP3?

Karlheinz Brandenburg at Fraunhofer invented MP3. (And AAC.) (edit: not Stockhausen, thank you!) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karlheinz_Brandenburg

Karlheinz Brandenburg... Stockhausen was a composer.

Re: The licensing program for MP3-related patents has been terminated

#37

Post by magila »

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #12
notaplumber wrote: post #11

Recognizing this adds legitimacy to software patents. Don't. There have been free and open source MP3 decoders for many years now.

So you don't believe in software patents?

Software is already covered by copyright. Granting it parent protection as well allows software companies to double dip in a way that no other industry can.

Re: The licensing program for MP3-related patents has been terminated

#39

Post by quadrangle »

ggambetta wrote: post #13

I'm curious about what advantages and benefits, if any, the patents brought to Fraunhofer. Other than making mp3 slightly more difficult to work with especially on Linux, did it benefit them in any way? Did them benefit society? Coming at this from an "this is a real-life example of software patents being {good|bad}".

There's no real-life example of software patents being good.

Re: The licensing program for MP3-related patents has been terminated

#40

Post by mark-r »

welder wrote: post #20
JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you don't believe in software patents?

Software patents are bullshit. A patent on an invention that many people would easily develop independently of one another should not, it is argued, be granted since this impedes development. [1] 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_patent#Obviousness

There's nothing unique about software that makes it more likely to be developed independently by many inventors, the same happens often with hardware patents. And the same argument applies - the patent system as a whole impedes progress as much (or more?) than it advances it.
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