Background: The SELF platform also aims to include multimedia files for educational purposes, so the SELF Legal Experts Group had to conduct an analysis for video formats that meet SELF's Open Standard Definition and can be used in the SELF platform. The following is the result of this analysis, involving various experts in the field.

Conclusions

• Video formats are one of the most encumbered fields in information technology.
• There is only one codec that can be used without entering into potential liabilities: Dirac/Schrodinger.
• The alternative choice is to use Ogg Theora, which would require either a shielding agreement, or confidence into the invalidity and/or inapplicability of the MPEG patents on Ogg Theora.

Findings

There is only one video format which safely qualifies as an Open Standard, which is the Dirac Video Codec. It was developed by Fluendo in partnership with the BBC as a high-quality video format with the specific goal of creating an unencumbered Open Standard format. The Schrodinger implementation of this format is available under the Mozilla Public License version 1.1, a Free Software license approved for SELF.

The Ogg Theora codec also aims to be unencumbered. There are however claims that MPEG's patents would also apply to Ogg Theora, e.g. http://www.linux.com/feature/123869 :

"the employed underlying compression methods are essentially very similar to MPEG compression: input images are converted into YUV colorspace, the image is partitioned into smaller blocks for compression, there's MPEG-like intra and inter prediction and a block-based transform is applied for energy compaction. All these basic concepts are already patented."

These claims are regularly denied by Ogg Theora developers, who maintain that certain patents either do not apply, or that they were granted an unrevocable free license regarding those patents.

We do not know of cases where these patents were upheld in court, it is unclear to which extent they apply to Ogg Theora, and in some cases it seems unclear who currently holds them. The MPEG LA consortium
 at the time of our analysis did not even offer MPEG-4 licenses, see http://www.mpegla.com/m4s/:

"The MPEG-4 Systems Patent Portfolio License is currently not being offered to new Licensees. It is in the process of being revised in order to provide expanded coverage. Current Licensees continue to enjoy coverage under the old License. MPEG LA expects a revised MPEG-4 Systems Patent Portfolio License to be available soon."

This makes Ogg Theora a less secure choice than Dirac/Schrodinger. While the risk seems comparatively small, it will continue to exist until there has been ruling on the validity of the patents and their applicability to Ogg Theora.