AV1’s open, royalty-free promise in question as Dolby sues Snapchat over codec
A major lawsuit claims the open AV1 codec infringes on Dolby's patents, threatening its 'free' status.
Dolby Laboratories has filed a lawsuit against Snap Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, alleging that Snapchat's implementation of the AV1 video codec infringes on four of its patents. These patents cover core video compression techniques like 'Inter-plane prediction' and 'Entropy encoding.' Dolby argues that AV1 'reuses' concepts from the HEVC (H.265) codec, for which licensing fees are standard, and that Snap gains an 'unfair competitive advantage' by using the technology without paying royalties. The suit seeks to enjoin Snap from further infringement and declares that Dolby isn't obligated to license these patents under royalty-free terms.
The lawsuit strikes at the heart of the Alliance for Open Media's (AOMedia) mission, which includes tech giants like Google, Apple, and Netflix. AOMedia developed AV1 explicitly as an open, royalty-free alternative to HEVC, governed by its Patent License 1.0. However, Dolby's action, supported by patent pool administrator Access Advance, suggests foundational video coding patents pre-date the AV1 specification. This case places the entire legal framework of AV1 in question, as patent pools like Access and Sisvel Group are already administering AV1-related licenses despite AOMedia's objections, potentially undermining its widespread, cost-free adoption.
- Dolby's lawsuit targets four specific patents (e.g., U.S. Patent No. 10,855,991) it claims are essential to AV1's function.
- The legal challenge argues AV1 'reuses' patented concepts from the HEVC codec, which typically requires royalty payments.
- This case threatens the core value proposition of AV1 as a royalty-free standard, potentially forcing widespread licensing fees.
Why It Matters
If successful, this lawsuit could impose new royalty costs on any company using AV1, from streaming services to social media apps.