MP3 'died' and nobody noticed: Key patents expired

netmask · Post by **netmask** » Sat May 20, 2017 11:10

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/05/1 ... y_noticed/

MrQuade · Post by **MrQuade** » Sat May 20, 2017 12:27

What annoys me is how much this news have been widely misrepresented and misreported all over the web this week.

People have been howling that no more licenses are being issued for mp3, and the format will die??

No, it just means that the patent is no longer in effect, and it is now free to use, which is why several free-only Linux distros announced several weeks ago, that they would be able to bundle mp3 codecs by default without users having to resort to 3rd party repos.

No surprises, it was expected and is generally a good thing. Even with newer and better audio formats around, the mp3 format is still well and truly entrenched.

prl · Post by **prl** » Sat May 20, 2017 12:39

Agreed. The only thing that's "died" is the revenue stream from licencing the patents.