Comment by throwaway84742
9 years ago
Does anyone know when h264 goes patent-free? It’s truly ubiquitous, and it first came out in around 2003. It’ll be very exciting when it becomes totally libre.
9 years ago
Does anyone know when h264 goes patent-free? It’s truly ubiquitous, and it first came out in around 2003. It’ll be very exciting when it becomes totally libre.
2027
http://www.osnews.com/story/24954/US_Patent_Expiration_for_M...
That is actually a good question. Mp3 is now patents free as well.
And both standards are “good enough” for most use cases and are supported by an overwhelming majority of hardware devices. Once h264 goes off patent, the interest in more advanced formats will dwindle.
It will be good enough, for things like Gif replacement. For Video though I think we still have long way to go.
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Probably 2020 or later.
Hopefully it will go the way copyrights are going and never be patent-free... /s