[vorbis] Re: FhG $15k minimum

[Firelight Multimedia]

> On Sun, 1 Oct 2000, Matt and Karin Lawson wrote:
>
> > I guess it may have changed in the past few months, but at one point
there was some kind of statement that said "all licenses have a $15k
> > yearly minimum"
>
> I did see that after it was pointed out. I had assumed they weren't
referring to radio based on the other page, but it is mentioned
> specifically.
>
> > By the way, I wrote to them one time and basically (but politely :) said
"You guys MUST realize that these fees are way too high for any
> > small business"  and their answer was to offer me a special deal of 2%
with a $5k yearly minimum.  Gee, that's much better (not).
>
> If $15k is their idea of a small minimum, then they really don't know much
about their potential customer base...
>
> Rich

Heh, that is interesting .. here is a discussion i had with thompson where i
found them unresponsive and EXTREMELY arrogant.
Brett
---------------------->

----- Original Message -----
From: Firelight Multimedia
To: Marianna Hamilton
Cc: Detlev Lang (E-mail) ; Henri Linde ; Martin Sieler
Sent: Saturday, September 09, 2000 12:53 AM
Subject: Re: [Firelight Multimedia]

hi marianna, thanks for replying.
I think any royalty scheme for my clients which are usually game companies
is out of the question, as it complicates the publisher deal, and
considering these games can sell anywhere around 500,000 copies, giving away
$250,000 isnt smart business sense just to play mp3 music in the background.
$50k up front is just simply too expensive also.  This is definately not a
'small business model' as you state.  Note i mentioned EA wont even pay this
and they are the richest game developer in the world.
They just want a small format to play music and sound effects with, this is
why ogg-vorbis is getting a lot of attention at the moment (and even WMA)
and is something i am recommending to users, unless of course, thompson can
significantly reduce the cost, which i can guarantee will get you many more
customers.  You really have to stay competitive for a technology that is
starting to show its age.

thanks.
Brett Paterson
Firelight Multimedia.

----- Original Message -----
From: Marianna Hamilton
To: 'Firelight Multimedia'
Cc: Detlev Lang (E-mail) ; Henri Linde ; Martin Sieler
Sent: Saturday, September 09, 2000 12:04 AM
Subject: [Firelight Multimedia]

Dear Brett,

In response to your last email,  I realized that I never gave you the
numbers for the small business model I referenced.   I should also clarify
that a licensee may choose this model if it feels their volumes better fit
this model.  The up-front annual minimum royalty is US $5 000.00 (the
standard minimum is US $ 15 000.00) and the per-unit royalties are doubled
from the standard (US $1.00/decoder;  $5.00/encoder for patents-only).
Also, there is no royalty for only distributing free software decoders
(desktop PC software only...).      Hope this information helps.

Please advise as to whether or not you still plan to develop an mp3 product
and your progress.

Best Regards,

Marianna
****************
Marianna Hamilton, Esq.
Thomson multimedia - mp3 Licensing
marianna at tmmlive.com
Tel: +1.858.485.4207

Please see our website at http://www.mp3licensing.com for further details.

-----Original Message-----
From: Firelight Multimedia [mailto:support at fmod.org]
Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2000 4:42 PM
To: Marianna Hamilton
Cc: Detlev Lang (E-mail); Henri Linde (E-mail); Martin Sieler (E-mail)
Subject: Re: [Firelight Multimedia] which category does this fall under

Hi marianna
I appreciate that but the number of clients who wanted to use mp3 in my
product have said no way to 50k, and if they had willingly paid 10k each you
would be more in pocket and not out of pocket as is the case now..
Electronic Arts who I work closely with is the biggest game industry company
in the world and work in terms of billions of dollars, and even they wont
consider paying that much.   Royalties are also an evil word in the mass
market software industry, and so they are looking into alternative
compression schemes.
I know this is abrupt, but it seems like a monopolistic pricing scheme
(there is no realistic competition right?), and i guess im not in the know
about the research you have done (i know market research is never an exact
science), but it seems almost common sense that you could have the potential
to reach explosive growth with a revision in licensing brackets?

thanks for listening,
Brett Paterson
Firelight Multimedia.

----- Original Message -----
From: Marianna Hamilton
To: 'Firelight Multimedia'
Cc: Detlev Lang (E-mail) ; Henri Linde (E-mail) ; Martin Sieler (E-mail)
Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2000 11:51 PM
Subject: [Firelight Multimedia] which category does this fall under

Brett,

Both Thomson and Fraunhofer spent a lot of resources developing the
breakthroughs for this technology and obtaining the patents on it, and it
continues to be valuable technology for those wanting this level of sound
quality in a compression algorithm. We continue to evaluate the market and
licensing approaches, but these models fit best for now.

<private stuff snipped>

Regards,

Marianna
****************
Marianna Hamilton
Thomson multimedia - mp3 Licensing
marianna at tmmlive.com
Tel: +1.858.485.4207

Please see our website at http://www.mp3licensing.com for further details.

 <earlier thread snipped>

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