AOMedia welcomes EC decision on royalty-free licensing policy

The Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) welcomes the news that the European Commission has today closed its preliminary review of AOMedia’s royalty-free licensing policy without further action.

AOMedia is a leading developer of open, royalty-free media technologies and develops standards spanning video, audio, still images, and immersive technologies. AOMedia and its members are fully committed to maintaining a thriving, competitive and open internet, which enables innovation and the launch of new products and services and continues to reduce prices for consumers.

Royalty-free licensing forms a foundational element for technological standards and the open internet, fostering innovation, choice and competition in the interests of businesses and consumers in the European Union and worldwide.

This is why AOMedia’s members developed and offer the AV1 video standard royalty-free to implementers. AV1 is deployed across a variety of popular platforms and devices. It enables high-quality video while at the same time reducing streaming and storage costs. It competes in a robust market for video codecs, offering consumers choice, and reducing costs and barriers to entry for implementers, including start-ups. This is important as the internet moves increasingly to video rather than text, and as consumers and businesses increasingly look for faster speeds and better definition.

As an emerging global standard for video, AV1 is making video content more accessible and affordable, across all platforms. We look forward to continuing to work with standard-setting bodies and other regulatory stakeholders in Europe, offering additional information to them about the benefits of AOMedia codecs and AOMedia’s approach to licensing.