[Theora] Licensing Question

[Michael Smith]

On 10/25/05, Thomas Kuglitsch <tkuglits at edu.uni-klu.ac.at> wrote:
> Hi there,
>
> I am new to Ogg/Theora and am trying to compare several video codecs as part
> of my master thesis at the University of Klagenfurt.
> Therefore I have a question: will there be any patents problems using
> Ogg/Theora in the future? Is/will Ogg/Theora stay free from patents rights?
> This would be a great advantage in using Ogg/Theora instead of e.g. H.264
> which is covered with numerous patents right now.

Yes, that's intended to be the great advantage of using Theora.

Though Theora is covered by some patents, there is a permanent,
royalty free license in effect for all uses of Theora - so you don't
ever need to worry about those ones.

Of course, as with anything (software, hardware, or other), there
could be unknown patents lurking - but in the case of Theora, there
aren't any that are known about that could be a problem.

Theora (unlike H.264, and many others) is intended to be usable
freely, for any purpose - enjoy it!

Mike