If you ever wondered why MP3 streams are largely only used on non-profit stations, there is a reason.
The most onorous patent was owned by a German company. They were not a “patent troll” – they actually did the research and engineering to create MP3. The ugly part was they wanted stations using MP3 streams to pay a royalty based on a percentage of income, giving the patent holder a right to perform an audit of the station’s financial records.
The good news is that patent expired in 2007, but there were a flurry of “me too!” Nonsense patents filed by patent trolls. The good news is those are also expiring.
http://www.tunequest.org/a-big-list-of-mp3-patents/20070226/
To create more confusion, the streaming link ending in .m3u or .pls does not mean the stream being played is actually MP3 – it can also be AAC, AAC+ Or even Windows Media Player (if the webmaster is clueless)
Time to see when the HDRadio patents run out – the FCC approved the technology in 2002 – patents are valid for at most 17 years from the grant or 20 years from filing. IANAL.
The patent troll claims against IBiquity and all the major radio groups was thrown out in June. Claims against car companies hasn’t been settled
http://www.radioworld.com/article/hd-radio-patent-case-dismissed/276446
The oldest Ibiquity patent was filed in 1999
http://www.patentgenius.com/patent/6721337.html
Which means the earliest it starts to expire is 2019 – but there are a whole string of related patents filed up to 2014 that would scare anyone away from trying to create a competing product line
What about mp4? I have seen it used for audio streaming but very rarely.
MP4 is a video format, not just audio – and has patent issues
Patents, shmatents. I am going to get my Pocket Fisherman and go catch some perch 🙂
Be sure to check with the office of perch administration