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Patent Pool Questions

Is Google aware of the Sisvel Video Coding Licensing Platform patent pools?

Yes, Google is aware of Sisvel’s Video Coding Licensing Platform.

Is Google planning to stop using VP9 and/or AV1?

No. Google has no plans to limit our use of VP9 or AV1 or change upcoming usage plans based on this announcement from Sisvel.

What do I do if I have more questions about Sisvel’s VP9 or AV1 program?

Sisvel can provide information about their licensing program. For information specific to the codec technology and how that might relate to the program, contact openmediapatents@google.com.

Were the licensors in the Sisvel pools involved in developing VP8 or VP9?

No. Sisvel’s licensors did not make any contributions to the VP8 or VP9 codecs.

Why are the licensors in the Sisvel pools asking for licensing fees if they were not involved in developing VP9 and Google licenses the codec at no charge?

While open source, royalty free and/or no charge technologies are widely offered, there is no way to prevent third parties from demanding licensing fees on these types of technologies.

What's next after VP9?

Is WebM going to make a next generation video codec available after VP9?

In lieu of continuing on with the VPx line of codecs, Google has collaborated with industry partners to develop new media codecs under the organization Alliance for Open Media. There is no VP10 in development.

What is the Alliance for Open Media?

The Alliance for Open Media is an organization dedicated to the development of open-source multimedia technologies and administered under the Joint Development Foundation framework. Its founding members are Amazon, Cisco, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Mozilla and Netflix, and it has added (and will continue to add) new members from a variety of constituencies up and down the content and product chains. See the press release.

The group's initial project is a next-generation open video codec known as AV1.

What is the WebM Project's relationship with the Alliance?

Generally speaking, the WebM Project is separate from the projects under the Alliance for Open Media. WebMProject.org will continue to be the site to go to for information about VP8 and VP9 and related technology.

How is the Alliance governed? Is there a charter?

Project and working group charters are developed using the Joint Development Foundation's governance guidelines. See the AOMedia site for more information.

Isn't the Alliance for Open Media just another video-compression patent pool?

In fact, the Alliance upends the patent-pool concept. Alliance members declare their licensing commitments at the beginning of the process, rather than at the end. Members commit to license any IP they own that is used in the final spec on a no charge basis, so long as they have not excluded such IP.

General Questions

What is WebM?

WebM is an open media file format designed for the web. WebM files consist of video streams compressed with the VP8 or VP9 video codec, audio streams compressed with the Vorbis or Opus audio codecs, and WebVTT text tracks. The WebM file structure is based on the Matroska media container.

What are VP8 and VP9?

VP8 and VP9 are highly-efficient video compression technologies (video "codecs") developed by the WebM Project. Anyone may use these codecs for no charge.

What are Vorbis and Opus?

Vorbis and Opus are open-source audio compression technologies (audio "codecs") developed by the Xiph Foundation. Like VP8 and VP9, these technologies are licensed by their creators for no charge.

Why is WebM important?

A key factor in the web's success is that its core technologies such as HTML, HTTP, and TCP/IP are open and freely implementable. Though video is also now core to the web experience, there was unfortunately no open and free video format that is on par with the leading commercial choices. To that end, we started the WebM project, a broadly-backed community effort to develop an open web media format.

WebM was built for the web. By testing hundreds of thousands of videos with widely varying characteristics, we found that VP8 and VP9 deliver high-quality video while efficiently adapting to varying processing and bandwidth conditions across a broad range of devices. High-efficiency bandwidth usage and reduced storage requirements can help publishers recognize immediate cost savings. Also, the relative simplicity of VP8/VP9 makes it easy to integrate into existing environments, and requires comparatively little manual tuning in the encoder to produce high-quality results.

VP8/VP9 video and Vorbis/Opus audio are the only codecs allowed in a valid .webm file. Why did you define WebM so narrowly?

We decided to define WebM files in this way because we wanted to do what's best for users. Users just want video to work, they don't want to worry about supported codecs, file formats, and so on. After much discussion with browser makers, tool developers and others, we reached a consensus that a narrowly defined format would cause the least confusion for users. If a user has a .webm file, he or she can be confident that it will play in any browser or media player that supports WebM.

How do I play WebM files?

Use a supported web browser or media player.

Where can I watch WebM videos?

WebM is widely deployed by YouTube and other video websites. Most consumers, however, don't need to be concerned with video formats. WebM media is of greater interest to video providers and publishers.

How can I judge WebM video quality for myself?

Use FFmpeg to encode some of your own videos, and play them back in Chrome.

Are VP8/VP9 or WebM subject to change?

No. The WebM container format's features may be extended, but not in a way that breaks backward-compatibility. The VP8 and VP9 bitstream formats are final. Future WebM Project video compression advancements would be released as new codecs.

WebM, VP8 and VP9 are open-source. How do I get the source and contribute code?

See our Code page.

Do I have to be a programmer to use WebM?

You only need to be a programmer if you want to build WebM support into a software application, or contribute code to the WebM Project.

Is the WebM project owned by Google or is it independent?

WebM is an open-source project sponsored by Google.

Can WebM be used for videoconferencing?

VP8 and VP9 perform exceptionally well in realtime, low-latency environments such as videoconferencing, and there are companies using them independently for such applications. WebRTC also supports WebM.

VP8 and VP9 Video Codecs

Can I use VP8/VP9 with a file container other than WebM or an audio codec other than Vorbis/Opus?

Yes, the license gives you the freedom to use VP8/VP9 in virtually any way you like. It should be noted, however, that when used in a container other than WebM it may not play in browsers that support WebM.

What are the limits of VP8 and VP9 in terms of resolution, datarate, and framerate?

VP8 uses 14 bits for width and height, for a maximum resolution of 16383x16383 pixels.

VP9 uses 16 bits for width and height, for a maximum resolution of 65536x65536 pixels.

Neither VP9 nor VP8 places any restriction on framerate or datarate.

How do I know if a video I am looking at uses VP8 or VP9?

On a desktop operating system, reading the file properties (for example, using Get Info on Mac OSX) will reveal a MIME type of video/webm. On YouTube, right-click a video and choose "Stats for Nerds."

WebM Video File Format

How do I know if I have WebM installed on my computer?

WebM isn't something you install on its own. It's deployed within application software such as web browsers, media players and media plug-ins.

Why create a new file type (.webm)? Why not use .mkv?

Since WebM is a subset of Matroska, it has fewer allowed stream types and features than Matroska.

A distinct name gives us a way to easily refer to the subset, and gives users a way to associate a piece of content with a client having known-good support. Google Chrome, for example, may or may not be able to decode filename.mkv, but it will absolutely play filename.webm -- provided filename.webm conforms to the WebM guidelines.

Licensing

Please explain how WebM is "royalty-free" or licensed under a "no charge FRAND" license?

Creators of some video codecs require content distributors and manufacturers to pay patent royalties to use the intellectual property within the codec. Google does not demand royalty payments for use of the codecs WebM supports (VP8/VP9 video and Vorbis/Opus audio). For more information, see the License page.

What does this license let me do?

Like most BSD licenses, this license allows you to use the VP8 and VP9 code with a minimum of restrictions on your use. You can use the code in proprietary software as well as open source software. We also offer a patent grant, whose details are discussed below.

Does the VP8/VP9 patent grant also extend to hardware implementations?

The patent grant applies to both hardware and software implementations.

Do I need to release the source if I make changes?

No, the license does not require you to release source if you make changes. However, we would love to see any changes you make and possibly incorporate them, so if you want to participate please visit the Code page and submit some patches.

Why didn't you use the Apache license?

The Apache license is very similar in effect to this license in that it offers a permissive copyright license and a patent grant. The Apache license is however deemed incompatible with a number of projects that might use VP8 and VP9.

Why didn't you use the GPL license?

One of the goals of having this code licensed as liberally as possible is to encourage adoption by as many users as possible. This includes both proprietary and free software. Using the GPL license would not be a good match for this goal.

Doesn't this cause license proliferation?

No. As the copyright license is simply a BSD license, and the patent grant is fully separate from it, it is not a new license. When we first released VP8, we had a clause in the patent grant that called this into question. We've since fixed that by decoupling the patent grant from the copyright license.

What if someone gets the code from Google and gives it to me without changes? Do I have a patent grant from Google?

Yes, you still have the right to redistribute and you still have a patent license for Google's patents that cover the code that Google released.

What if someone makes a change to the code and gives it to me? Do I have a patent license from Google for that change?

You still have the right to redistribute but no patent license for the changes (if there are any patents covering it). We can't give patent licenses for changes people make after we distribute the code, as we have no way to predict what those changes will be. Other common licenses take the same approach, including the Apache license.

What if Google receives or buys a patent that covers the code I receive sometime after I receive the code? Do I have a patent grant for that patent?

Yes, you still have the right to redistribute and you still have a patent license for Google's patents that cover the code that Google released.

What if my competitor uses the code and brings patent litigation against me for something unrelated to the code? Does he or she still have a patent license?

Yes, they still have the right to redistribute and they still have a patent license for Google's patents that cover the code that Google released.