Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the MPEG Industry forum?
2. What are the main activities of MPEGIF?
3. Why should I join?
4. How much will it cost to join?
5. What is the difference between Full and Associate Membership?
6. How do I join?
7. How often are the meetings held?
8. Where can I find more information on the MPEG Industry forum
9. Who can I contact?
10. How does the patent group fit into the MPEG Industry Forum?
11. Do I need a license to build an MPEG-4 Device?
12. And if I only want to create MPEG-4 Software?
13. Can I get a license for MPEG-4 technology from MPEGIF?
14. When will licenses be available?

1. What is the MPEG Industry forum?

   MPEGIF is a Forum for industrial players that want to manufacture, deploy or use emerging MPEG technologies. The philosophy is that all involved parties, even though competitors in some respect, profit from the standard to be accepted and take off. The goal of the forum is:

   To further the adoption of MPEG Standards, by establishing them as well accepted and widely used standards among creators of content, developers, manufacturers, providers of services, and end users.

   The Forum is open to all parties that agree with the Forum’s objectives. MPEGIF is a not-for-profit organisation.

2. What are the main activities of MPEGIF?

   MPEGIF strives to achieve its goals through:

   • promotional activities, such as providing links to MPEG-4 related information, products and services, organizing MPEG-4 tutorials, exhibitions and seminars
   • creating a single point of information
   • making available (or giving pointers to) software and tools
   • providing help in implementing the standard
   • facilitating discussions about industrial focus around MPEG-4 Technology
   Also, MPEGIF will facilitate discussions among patent holders, with the goal to encourage the creation of non-discriminatory patent pools. (MPEGIF will not actually deal with these patents itself.)
   
3. Why should I join?

If you have in interest in MPEG-4, MPEG-7 or MPEG-21, MPEGIF will give you a platform to discuss issues of common interest, to test the interoperability of products, and to work on marketing the standard. You will also have the possibility to discuss issues with experts. You will identify your company as a strong supporter of open standards. While MPEGIF will promote MPEG technologies to the general public, some of the (email) discussions will be for members only, and some of the resources can be tapped only by members, one such activity being the interop work. Being a part of MPEGIF can also bring you speaking opportunities and you will be able to join MPEGIF at selected trade shows.

4. How much will it cost to join?

The annual fee is US$3,000 for a full membership and US$300 for an associate membership
MPEGIF is a not-for-profit organization, and this fee will be used to cover operating expenses, e.g. web site maintenance, development of certification programs, marketing efforts, trade show presence, membership management and secretarial support in running the Forum.

5. What is the difference between Full and Associate Membership?

The Full Membership is for most organizations. This type of membership provides access to all activities in MPEGIF plus voting rights on MPEGIF matters. A principal member is entitled to one (1) vote at the Annual and General Meetings and any Committee Meeting in which they participate. The membership fee for the current year is US$3000.00.

The Associate Membership is reserved for not-for-profit organizations and institutions. It allows access to the MPEGIF but without the voting privileges. The membership fee for the current year is US$300.00. Not-for-profits can also choose to join as a full member, with the right to vote and giving a stronger financial support of the organization.

6. How do I join?

Joining is easy. Follow instructions found at www.MPEGIF.org/join.php

All that is required is

• Signing the Statutes (see link above to download these)
• Filling out an electronic contact details Web Form
• Paying the USD 3000 membership fee (full members) or USD 300 (associate members).

As soon as we have received your application and the money transfer, we will send you the password to the member website and other details to get you started as a member.

7. How often are the meetings held?

The Forum meets once a year, in any of the three main regions where we have our members (Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe). The individual Working Groups may meet more often, and sometimes meet during MPEG meetings.

8. Where can I find more information on the MPEG Industry forum?

More information can be found at the MPEG Industry Forum web site http://www.MPEGIF.org

9. Who can I contact?

Nicola Wissler, MPEG Industry Forum Coordinator
48377 Fremont Blvd., Suite 117
Fremont, CA 94538
USA

+1 510-492-4028 phone
+1 510-492-4001 fax

nicola.wissler_at_mpegif_dot_org



10. What does the MPEG Industry Forum have to do with MPEG(-4) patents and licensing?

While licensing is not MPEGIF's responsability, MPEGIF has been instrumental in getting licensing off the ground. Among MPEGIF's membership there are many (potential) licensees, licensors and parties that are neither, but do have an interest. Many members are actually licensor and licensee at the same time. MPEGIF sees the easy access to licenses for essential patents under reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions as a very important enabler of wide scale adoption of the MPEG-4 Standard. That is why the Forum has been facilitating a number of meetings between licensors, licensees and other interested parties, and will do so in the future when a need is there. MPEGIF will not directly deal with patents, patent pools and patent licensing. This is strictly a matter for patent owners to resolve, and falls outside of MPEGIF’s scope. Among other things, we have discussed in what ways MPEG-4 would be deployed and which business models licensors could consider to facilitate this deployment and enable a wide range of business models.

11. Do I need a license to build an MPEG-4 Device?

Depending on what you do, you may need a license. Licensors (patent owners) decide the terms for such licenses, including who needs one. These terms differ for different applications, and may vary across MPEG-4 Profiles and Levels. Also, they differ between MPEG-4 Systems, Visual and Audio. If you distribute a very small number of copies or use MPEG-4 for a small-scale service, you may sometimes fall under certain thresholds. A definitive answer can only be obtained from the licensors, and from studying the license itself. See http://www.MPEGIF.org/patents/index.php for links to more information.

12. And if I only want to create MPEG-4 Software?

The situation for software is essentially the same as for hardware. Sometimes, licensors make a difference between hardware and (PC) software, as is the case in, for example, MPEG-4 AAC.

13. Can I get a license for MPEG-4 technology from MPEGIF?

No. MPEGIF does not sell licenses or even determine the licensing policies. It merely acts as a catalyst in getting holders of essential patents to sit together and establish a portfolio of essential worldwide patents that are necessary for implementation of the MPEG-4 standard in order to provide all MPEG-4 users with fair, reasonable, nondiscriminatory access to this technology under one license. Also, MPEGIF discusses possible licensing principles, applicable to hardware and software products, to better understand the needs for licensing in emerging MPEG-4 application domains. see http://www.MPEGIF.org/patents/index.php to understand the responsabilities and learn more about licensing.

14. When will licenses be available?

For more information on licensing, see http://www.MPEGIF.org/patents/index.php. Most of the licensing issues have been resolved and the general outlines of the different licenses are known.