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I create a project in ASP.NET which uses the mpeg-4 video format. It is possible that it will be a commercial project later. This web application will store and play videos in mpeg-4 format in HTML video and Canvas elements.

As far as I know, the mpeg-4 encoder and decoder are not free to use, and I require a license to use them in my project.

  1. I will record the videos mostly by my smartphone in mpeg-4 format, later I will lower their video bit rate by HandBrake, which is an open source free to use universal encoder, which uses the mpeg-4 encoder/decoder.
  2. The mpeg-4 videos with the lowered bit rate will be displayed by my application in HTML 5 Canvas and Video elements, as I mentioned above.

My question is:
Do I have to pay license fee for using the mpeg-4 video format for this kind of usage?

I would rather use the other 2 free video formats (WebM and OGG), but Internet Explorer and Safari does not support them, so I have to use the mpeg-4 format).

Arszi
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1 Answers1

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After many hours of further searching, I found out, that distributing MP4 video encoded with H264 codec REQUIRES licensing in the case of commercial web applications, if the users have to pay to access the h264 encoded mp4 video content.

On August 26, 2010 MPEG LA announced that H.264 encoded internet video that is free to end users will never be charged royalties.

(The above quoted information is copied from Wikipedia, the referenced PDF file is no longer available.)

Fortunately, Cisco is launching a project to create a free to use h264 codec for public use in HTML5.

References:

http://shaver.off.net/diary/2010/01/23/html5-video-and-codecs/

https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2013/10/30/video-interoperability-on-the-web-gets-a-boost-from-ciscos-h-264-codec/

Arszi
  • 27
  • 10