Two years later, I am still not sure if it is legal here in Norway to use or publish a video in H.264 or MPEG4 format edited by the commercially licensed video editors, without limiting the use to create "personal" or "non-commercial" videos or get a license agreement with MPEG LA. If one want to publish and broadcast video in a non-personal or commercial setting, it might be that those tools can not be used, or that video format can not be used, without breaking their copyright license. I am not sure. Back then, I found that the copyright license terms for Adobe Premiere and Apple Final Cut Pro both specified that one could not use the program to produce anything else without a patent license from MPEG LA. The issue is not limited to those two products, though. Other much used products like those from Avid and Sorenson Media have terms of use are similar to those from Adobe and Apple. The complicating factor making me unsure if those terms have effect in Norway or not is that the patents in question are not valid in Norway, but copyright licenses are.
These are the terms for Avid Artist Suite, according to their published end user license text (converted to lower case text for easier reading):
18.2. MPEG-4. MPEG-4 technology may be included with the software. MPEG LA, L.L.C. requires this notice:
This product is licensed under the MPEG-4 visual patent portfolio license for the personal and non-commercial use of a consumer for (i) encoding video in compliance with the MPEG-4 visual standard (“MPEG-4 video”) and/or (ii) decoding MPEG-4 video that was encoded by a consumer engaged in a personal and non-commercial activity and/or was obtained from a video provider licensed by MPEG LA to provide MPEG-4 video. No license is granted or shall be implied for any other use. Additional information including that relating to promotional, internal and commercial uses and licensing may be obtained from MPEG LA, LLC. See http://www.mpegla.com. This product is licensed under the MPEG-4 systems patent portfolio license for encoding in compliance with the MPEG-4 systems standard, except that an additional license and payment of royalties are necessary for encoding in connection with (i) data stored or replicated in physical media which is paid for on a title by title basis and/or (ii) data which is paid for on a title by title basis and is transmitted to an end user for permanent storage and/or use, such additional license may be obtained from MPEG LA, LLC. See http://www.mpegla.com for additional details.
18.3. H.264/AVC. H.264/AVC technology may be included with the software. MPEG LA, L.L.C. requires this notice:
This product is licensed under the AVC patent portfolio license for the personal use of a consumer or other uses in which it does not receive remuneration to (i) encode video in compliance with the AVC standard (“AVC video”) and/or (ii) decode AVC video that was encoded by a consumer engaged in a personal activity and/or was obtained from a video provider licensed to provide AVC video. No license is granted or shall be implied for any other use. Additional information may be obtained from MPEG LA, L.L.C. See http://www.mpegla.com.
Note the requirement that the videos created can only be used for personal or non-commercial purposes.
The Sorenson Media software have similar terms:
With respect to a license from Sorenson pertaining to MPEG-4 Video Decoders and/or Encoders: Any such product is licensed under the MPEG-4 visual patent portfolio license for the personal and non-commercial use of a consumer for (i) encoding video in compliance with the MPEG-4 visual standard (“MPEG-4 video”) and/or (ii) decoding MPEG-4 video that was encoded by a consumer engaged in a personal and non-commercial activity and/or was obtained from a video provider licensed by MPEG LA to provide MPEG-4 video. No license is granted or shall be implied for any other use. Additional information including that relating to promotional, internal and commercial uses and licensing may be obtained from MPEG LA, LLC. See http://www.mpegla.com.
With respect to a license from Sorenson pertaining to MPEG-4 Consumer Recorded Data Encoder, MPEG-4 Systems Internet Data Encoder, MPEG-4 Mobile Data Encoder, and/or MPEG-4 Unique Use Encoder: Any such product is licensed under the MPEG-4 systems patent portfolio license for encoding in compliance with the MPEG-4 systems standard, except that an additional license and payment of royalties are necessary for encoding in connection with (i) data stored or replicated in physical media which is paid for on a title by title basis and/or (ii) data which is paid for on a title by title basis and is transmitted to an end user for permanent storage and/or use. Such additional license may be obtained from MPEG LA, LLC. See http://www.mpegla.com for additional details.
Some free software like Handbrake and FFMPEG uses GPL/LGPL licenses and do not have any such terms included, so for those, there is no requirement to limit the use to personal and non-commercial.
