MPEG-DASH版税:我们目前所知道的

你可能听说过， MPEG LA 昨天宣布 MPEG DASH专利池. After talking to representatives from MPEG LA, we know a little bit more now than we did yesterday. 我们将继续深入挖掘它对行业的意义, 皇室语言的法律细节, 专利的稳健性, 以及潜在的变通方法.

DASH简报中的解释性语言

所以，今天，这是我们所知道的. 首先，正如昨天所指出的，您可以查看摘要 专利组合许可 或下载官方 简报.  我和Bill Geary谈过, MPEG LA业务发展副总裁, 澄清多个要点, 你会看到, he confirmed several scenarios regarding when royalties would apply and who would owe them. It's important to note that the license won't be finalized until early December; MPEG LA shared some terms for the purposes of clarification, 但他不想让我们引用条款，因为条款可能会改变. 

By way of background, the license is on any patent rights "necessary for the DASH standard." So it's targeted towards those using the DASH Standard as defined as ISO/IEC 23009-1:2014. If you're using Media Presentation Descriptions (MPDs) in a player or app, 是时候给你的律师打电话了.

The royalties apply in 两个 cases; 破折号的客户 and DASH发起者. 让我们一个一个来.

破折号的客户

Dash Clients are defined in the summary as "products capable of parsing a Media Presentation Description and accessing or playing DASH Segments." The first question is whether this applies to browsers that support the Media Source Extensions (MSE). According to a technical contact from an off-the-shelf player vendor, the answer is probably not. 这是因为MSE不会“解析”MPD, it parses the incoming file segments (in ISO Base Media File Format in the case of DASH) and passes the MPD to the DASH player. Unless the browser has a DASH Player, like Microsoft Edge, a browser wouldn't be a DASH Client.

Browsers without DASH clients have to call a separate DASH player to parse the MPD and play the video. These clients are either totally home grown or built from open-source components like DASH.js, or from off-the-shelf players like those from JWPlayer, Bitmovin, castLabs, or THEOplayer. 从技术上讲, 这些播放器被链接到提供视频的页面, 并在观看者点击播放(或其他)按钮时加载.

这些参与者似乎是可许可的DASH客户, except that the current draft of the DASH Client definition excludes players that are temporarily loaded through the browser. However, the license terms also say that this exception will be reevaluated on annual basis.

So it appears that neither the browser or temporarily loaded player would give rise to a royalty. "The license does not collect royalties on browsers; it collects royalties for products with DASH functionality and those that initiate playback of DASH files,吉尔里说。. "A DASH player temporarily loaded through a browser for the purpose of playing associated files currently falls outside the license and no royalties are payable for that at this time."

在我与MPEG LA的讨论中, the exclusion for temporarily loaded players appeared to relate to the administrative challenges of metering player usage. 例如, if I watch ten videos from Service A that calls the DASH player ten times, 是一个还是十个? 如果服务A围绕DASH构建玩家.js, 服务B也是如此, 我看了10个来自A和B服务的视频, 这会产生一个皇室吗, 两个, 或二十? 我想我们可以通过讨论DASH发起者来猜测其意图, 我们先这么做，然后再绕回来.

但首先，谁欠版税? 向最终用户提供播放器的公司. 所以如果安卓手机有ExoPlayer, 哪一个是DASH客户端, the mobile phone company selling the device to the end user owes the royalty. If Telestream decides to add DASH playback to Telestream Switch, Telestream would owe the royalty.

DASH发起者

总之, 这个类别指的是应用程序, or "products capable of initiating transfer of Media Presentation Descriptions associated with DASH Segments.继续上面的两个例子, 假设服务A通过应用程序向Android手机分发服务. The app itself doesn't include a DASH client, but rather calls ExoPlayer to manage DASH playback. The app is the DASH Initiator, and is royalty bearing, as is DASH Client ExoPlayer. 移动设备上的任何应用都是如此, 智能电视, 奥特设备, 或者调用MPD在另一个播放器上播放的游戏控制台.

谁欠这里的版税? 在这种情况下, 是提供这款应用的公司, 即使它是在卖给终端用户的设备上提供的. So, if Samsung sells a phone with ExoPlayer and five video apps that call ExoPlayer to play MPD files, 三星欠ExoPlayer的版税, 每个应用程序的供应商都要为其各自的应用程序支付版税.

回到暂时加载DASH播放器的问题, it seems like MPEG LA's intent would be to figure out a way to license that player separately for each customer, 就像一个应用程序, 但并不是每个用户都使用, 哪个更像内容版税. 但MPEG LA并没有证实或否认这一假设. Expect some royalty-bearing event to occur when playing DASH video with a temporarily loaded player from a browser other than Edge after the first year of the program.

MPEG-DASH版税费用

在这两种情况下，版税都是美国的.S. $0.第一批10万件后每件5英镑. There's an annual $30 million dollar cap per Legal Entity and Affiliates during the first term, 延长到12月31日的5年, 2022, with the license renewable for successive 5-year periods for the life of the patents. 每次续约的版税涨幅不会超过20%.

Note that royalties are payable for products from January 1, 2015 forward. 从这个角度来看，MPEG LA直到2015年7月27日才公布了这个资金池.

MPEG-DASH版税方案

以下是我们使用MPEG LA运行的场景，以及Bill Geary的回应.

MPEG-DASH版税方案

以下是我们使用MPEG LA运行的场景，以及Bill Geary的回应.

1.    Microsoft Edge可以播放DASH文件. 这使其成为DASH客户，并应按单位支付特许权使用费. 

2.    All other current browsers support MSE, but can't parse, access, or play DASH files. 这些不是DASH客户，所以不需要支付特许权使用费.

MPEG LA response: Probably correct, but we will evaluate on a case-by-case basis.

 3.    如果第三方玩家(JW, Bitmovin, dash.js), are loaded temporarily, they are excluded today, though this may change.

MPEG - LA响应:正确

 4.    安卓手机配有ExoPlayer，这是一个DASH客户端. 手机销售商支付版税.

MPEG - LA响应:正确

5.    The same Android phone comes with multiple apps that call ExoPlayer to play MPD files. 有DASH发起者生成由应用程序卖家支付的许可证.

MPEG - LA响应:正确.

6.    智能电视/OTT设备上的DASH播放器是DASH客户端. 这就产生了硬件供应商支付的特许权使用费.

MPEG - LA响应:正确 – player in OS, browser, or a standalone player not associated with an app.

 7.    智能电视/OTT设备上的应用. These are DASH发起者, giving rise to a royalty payable by the app seller.

MPEG - LA响应:正确.

 8.    消费者在购买硬件设备后下载应用程序. This is a DASH Initiator, giving rise to a royalty payable by the app sellar.

MPEG - LA响应:正确.

9.    我有一个Netflix账户，六台设备上都有应用程序. 这些都是DASH发起人，Netflix欠了六笔版税.

MPEG - LA响应:正确

MPEG DASH版税的变化状态:会有多糟糕?

MPEG LA's recent announcement of a DASH royalty pool is the first such royalty on free internet video. 而这仅仅是个开始.

2017年1月19日

MPEG-LA宣布MPEG-DASH专利组合许可

No royalties would apply to clients and "DASH segments based on DASH发起者" for the first 100,000 units; royalties of 5 cents per unit would apply after the 100,000个单位的门槛，每个许可期限上限为3000万元

11月17日