4 ms·

There are just so many patents on things both specific and vague, that you can't ever be sure you're not infringing on some. As far as I know, all serious compa

by dvdkon 5y ago

There are just so many patents on things both specific and vague, that you can't ever be sure you're not infringing on some. As far as I know, all serious companies using HEVC pay to licence relevant patents, while the big players using AV1 don't. If I was building a business than had a choice of codec, I'd rather bet on AV1. Worst case, you get dragged into a legal battle, but so do Youtube and Netflix.

threeseed 5y ago
> Worst case, you get dragged into a legal battle, but so do Youtube and Netflix Except that's not how legal cases work. Just because all three of you infringe doesn't mean lawsuits will result for all three. It's quite likely they would allow Youtube and Netflix to continue infringing to promote the growth and adoption of the codec whilst they go after smaller players who won't be able to put up a fight.
- tcptomato 5y ago
  Sorry, but what you say doesn't make any sense. You think that YouTube and Netflix will just sit by as precedent is decided next to them? And the right owners having already won in court would just ignore the biggest "offenders"?
  - mschuster91 5y ago
    First you bully enough small-scale offenders who don't fight back to establish precedence and only then you go after the big fishes. This is why grassroots-scale efforts to defend against patent trolls are so important - you absolutely have to prevent precedence case building for patent trolls or it becomes so much harder down the road.
  - threeseed 5y ago
    Google and Netflix would have no choice but to sit by as you can't force yourself to be sued. You can try and invalidate the patent but in a situation like this where the patent holders are serious companies and legitimate innovators it's unlikely to get you far. And yes it is very common to bully lots of smaller players rather than get into an expensive protracted lawsuit with a large one.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - eesmith 5y ago
      Google and Netflix can help fund your legal defense. That's neither standing by nor being sued.
      - threeseed 5y ago
        > Google and Netflix can help fund your legal defense I am not aware of this being the case for either company.
        eesmith 5y ago
        You were talking about a future hypothetical, not a current or historical event.
    - dtech 5y ago
      > Google and Netflix would have no choice but to sit by In a lot of jurisdictions a 3rd party can join a lawsuit, it's called an intervention [1]. I'm not fully aware on US law, but e.g. in NL all large internet providers joined a lawsuit as defendants when a copyright enforcer wanted 1 to block The Pirate Bay. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intervention_(law) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intervention_(law)

by dvdkon 5y ago

threeseed 5y ago

> Worst case, you get dragged into a legal battle, but so do Youtube and Netflix Except that's not how legal cases work. Just because all three of you infringe doesn't mean lawsuits will result for all three. It's quite likely they would allow Youtube and Netflix to continue infringing to promote the growth and adoption of the codec whilst they go after smaller players who won't be able to put up a fight.

tcptomato 5y ago
Sorry, but what you say doesn't make any sense. You think that YouTube and Netflix will just sit by as precedent is decided next to them? And the right owners having already won in court would just ignore the biggest "offenders"?
- mschuster91 5y ago
  First you bully enough small-scale offenders who don't fight back to establish precedence and only then you go after the big fishes. This is why grassroots-scale efforts to defend against patent trolls are so important - you absolutely have to prevent precedence case building for patent trolls or it becomes so much harder down the road.
- threeseed 5y ago
  Google and Netflix would have no choice but to sit by as you can't force yourself to be sued. You can try and invalidate the patent but in a situation like this where the patent holders are serious companies and legitimate innovators it's unlikely to get you far. And yes it is very common to bully lots of smaller players rather than get into an expensive protracted lawsuit with a large one.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - eesmith 5y ago
    Google and Netflix can help fund your legal defense. That's neither standing by nor being sued.
    - threeseed 5y ago
      > Google and Netflix can help fund your legal defense I am not aware of this being the case for either company.
      - eesmith 5y ago
        You were talking about a future hypothetical, not a current or historical event.
  - dtech 5y ago
    > Google and Netflix would have no choice but to sit by In a lot of jurisdictions a 3rd party can join a lawsuit, it's called an intervention [1]. I'm not fully aware on US law, but e.g. in NL all large internet providers joined a lawsuit as defendants when a copyright enforcer wanted 1 to block The Pirate Bay. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intervention_(law) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intervention_(law)