AV1’s open, royalty-free promise in question as Dolby sues Snapchat over codec
2026-03-27 21:30 UTC
Replies (14)
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@andybytes@programming.dev 2026-03-28 04:38
fascist fighting fascist… this is how it was expected to be in the end times
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@4am@lemmy.zip 2026-03-28 01:02
So just to be clear for all of you: Dolby is not a creator of AV1, Dolby is not in charge of licensing decisions for AV1. All companies involved in HVEC and AV1 have not performed bait and switch. What has happened is that Dolby alleges that they already have a patent on parts of what makes AV1 work. This may be an accident, or maybe someone stole Dolby’s tech. This may be something that can be fixed by changing how the software works, without breaking the file format. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out. Also, I’ve been saying it for 30 years at this point, and I will keep saying it: FUCK patents, software patents especially, and fuck the stupid system of capitalism for making them necessary
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@riskable@programming.dev 2026-03-27 23:15
**Patents on software shouldn't exist!**
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@network_switch@lemmy.ml 2026-03-27 21:57
Screw Dolby. I'll only ever encode in AV1 and in the future AV2. HEVC won't ever be ubiquitous like h.264 and VVC has already had support dropped by Intel processors after only one generation of hardware support. 6 years after the standard was finalized and VVC is still practically non-existent in consumer hardware
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@db2@lemmy.world 2026-03-27 22:17
>Rather, the AV1 specification was developed after many foundational video coding patents had already been filed, and AV1 incorporates technologies that are also present in HEVC. Like file()
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@HertzDentalBar@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2026-03-29 01:28
Fuck patents on software. May every person who applys for one be jabbed by the LA aids jabber.
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@veniasilente@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-03-28 11:43
We all knew this was going to happen one day or another. Where's Theora these days, byw? Wasn't it the encoding blessed by the license druids?
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@gnuplusmatt@reddthat.com 2026-03-28 01:55
but I've been standardising my library on AV1
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@JohnWorks@sh.itjust.works 2026-03-27 21:45
Maybe I should just reencode all my stuff in VVC 😮💨
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@kieron115@startrek.website 2026-03-28 04:43
Why exactly are they targeting a non-governing member of the alliance?
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@Mwa@thelemmy.club 2026-03-27 22:05
So not royalty-free?
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@berty@feddit.org 2026-03-28 13:44
The title is a bit misleading. What does that mean for the future of AV1?
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@wewbull@feddit.uk 2026-03-28 14:44
Which is a damn good point. If you don't protect a patent in a reasonable time frame I believe you lose the right to protect it. If Dolby has had this patent for a long time, and allowed it to become part of a standard, it may be a quick dismissal of the case.
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@4am@lemmy.zip 2026-03-29 02:53
Oh, I’m not saying this to defend Dolby’s actions, IMHO and IANAL but this feels like a “see if this shit sticks” type of deal. Maybe this is something specific that Snapchat’s implementation does and isn’t directly related to AV1 and the headline is clickbait? Hard for me to know. I just wanted to point out that AV1’s consortium doesn’t seem to be rugpulling as some other commenters on here seem to feel.