2 ms·

Only for Google's implementation and not any others... This is the key point that everyone's missing.

by kierank 16y ago

sorbus 16y ago
That's a pretty huge key point. Do you happen to have a citation? The relevant granting of rights (the VP8 Bitstream Specification License[1]) doesn't seem to say anything about that: "a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable (except as stated in this section) patent license to make, have made, use, offer to sell, sell, import, and otherwise transfer implementations of this specification ..." [1] http://www.webmproject.org/license/bitstream/ http://www.webmproject.org/license/bitstream/
lukeschlather 16y ago
http://www.webmproject.org/license/additional/ http://www.webmproject.org/license/additional/ >Google hereby grants to you a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable (except as stated in this section) patent license to make, have made, use, offer to sell, sell, import, transfer, and otherwise run, modify and propagate the contents of this implementation of VP8, where such license applies only to those patent claims, both currently owned by Google and acquired in the future, licensable by Google that are necessarily infringed by this implementation of VP8. This grant does not include claims that would be infringed only as a consequence of further modification of this implementation. If you or your agent or exclusive licensee institute or order or agree to the institution of patent litigation against any entity (including a cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging that this implementation of VP8 or any code incorporated within this implementation of VP8 constitutes direct or contributory patent infringement, or inducement of patent infringement, then any patent rights granted to you under this License for this implementation of VP8 shall terminate as of the date such litigation is filed. It explicitly grants you the ability to modify the library in whatever way you want. This naturally includes a complete re-implementation. There's a strangely worded section in there, but it is a clear cause-and-effect: >This grant does not include claims that would be infringed only as a consequence of further modification of this implementation. So, any claims infringed only as a consequence of further modification are not covered. But if the patent claims were already infringed by Google's implementation, then you are covered.
antimatter15 16y ago
From: http://www.webmproject.org/about/faq/#licensing http://www.webmproject.org/about/faq/#licensing Q: What if someone makes a change to the code and gives it to me. Do I have a patent license from Google for that change? A: You still have the right to redistribute but no patent license for the changes (if there are any patents covering it). We can't give patent licenses for changes people make after we distribute the code, as we have no way to predict what those changes will be. Other common licenses take the same approach, including the Apache license. I'm not sure if it supports your statement, it would be great if someone more knowledgable about this can clarify.

Only for Google's implementation and not any others... This is the key point that everyone's missing.

by kierank 16y ago

Only for Google's implementation and not any others... This is the key point that everyone's missing.

That's a pretty huge key point. Do you happen to have a citation? The relevant granting of rights (the VP8 Bitstream Specification License[1]) doesn't seem to say anything about that: "a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable (except as stated in this section) patent license to make, have made, use, offer to sell, sell, import, and otherwise transfer implementations of this specification ..." [1] http://www.webmproject.org/license/bitstream/ http://www.webmproject.org/license/bitstream/

lukeschlather 16y ago

http://www.webmproject.org/license/additional/ http://www.webmproject.org/license/additional/ >Google hereby grants to you a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable (except as stated in this section) patent license to make, have made, use, offer to sell, sell, import, transfer, and otherwise run, modify and propagate the contents of this implementation of VP8, where such license applies only to those patent claims, both currently owned by Google and acquired in the future, licensable by Google that are necessarily infringed by this implementation of VP8. This grant does not include claims that would be infringed only as a consequence of further modification of this implementation. If you or your agent or exclusive licensee institute or order or agree to the institution of patent litigation against any entity (including a cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging that this implementation of VP8 or any code incorporated within this implementation of VP8 constitutes direct or contributory patent infringement, or inducement of patent infringement, then any patent rights granted to you under this License for this implementation of VP8 shall terminate as of the date such litigation is filed. It explicitly grants you the ability to modify the library in whatever way you want. This naturally includes a complete re-implementation. There's a strangely worded section in there, but it is a clear cause-and-effect: >This grant does not include claims that would be infringed only as a consequence of further modification of this implementation. So, any claims infringed only as a consequence of further modification are not covered. But if the patent claims were already infringed by Google's implementation, then you are covered.

antimatter15 16y ago

From: http://www.webmproject.org/about/faq/#licensing http://www.webmproject.org/about/faq/#licensing Q: What if someone makes a change to the code and gives it to me. Do I have a patent license from Google for that change? A: You still have the right to redistribute but no patent license for the changes (if there are any patents covering it). We can't give patent licenses for changes people make after we distribute the code, as we have no way to predict what those changes will be. Other common licenses take the same approach, including the Apache license. I'm not sure if it supports your statement, it would be great if someone more knowledgable about this can clarify.