The MPEG-LA video standards group has revised its AVC License to permanently exempt free H.264 and AVC video Internet use from any royalties. It had previously planned to start charging companies for streaming H.264 at the start of 2016 but now will allow free use indefinitely as long as viewers aren’t charged. Paid video, as well as corporate use of offline video, will still carry a licensing cost.
This news should clear any question about the use of H.264 for H L5 video as well as within Flash. Apple and Microsoft have both sided with H.264 as they believe its licensing are clearer than with WebM. Google is co-developed of WebM standard. MPEG-LA has made noise that they think WebM may violate patents.
