Digital Workshop

Hi

I took my first look at the DVD publishing in 5.14 XE which raised some questions for me as a novice.

If materials are published as DVD, encoded by Opus in MPEG2, will this require payment of royalties for any DVD's that would be commercially sold? How much would these be and to whom is payment made?

If these were encoded or converted into MPEG1 instead, would these DVD's (or Video CD's) require royalty payment? How much, to whom?
Can MPEG2 even be converted to MPEG1?

What I am trying to accomplish is to create some abbreviated (no interactive functionality, just necessary navigation from one to the next) screens for video playback on standalone DVD players or home TV/video DVD players taken from an Opus project. This would be for end-users who prefer to use CD/DVD video players or home entertainment systems rather than a computer platform. (I don't suppose standalone DVD players can view Windows media format videos, which may be an easier and less restrictive file export.)

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Kind Regards,
Stephen

DVD requires no royalty. I do believe that you should put the dvd logo on the dvd and/or the case. Many people do and some don't.

Hi

Thanks for your reply.

Take a look at the Opus Help Files under "Overview of Opus DVD."

Under "MPEG Royalty," it states:

"DVD Video publishing encodes your video to MPEG2 format. If you subsequently wish to sell the DVD Video as a commercial product available for retail sale you need to arrange to pay a royalty for encoding MPEG."

Perhaps, being new at this, I've mis-read this. In fact, I'm unsure what the DW team means.

Other websites, including the MPEG licensing managers themselves, talk about various fees for using MPEG2 in hardware and software. Nero software's EULA mentions restricting burning to non-commercial use.

So, I'm confused as to what obligations there are.

Again, thank you for your reply. However, I would also hope that a member of the DW team can clarify the above quoted item from their help file. Any reassurance that DVD's are exempt from MPEG2 royalties would be helpful, as well.

Kind Regards,

Stephen

Hi Stephen

This from mpegla.com

(5) For MPEG-2 Packaged Media, the royalty is US $0.03 from March 1, 2003/$0.035 from September 1, 2001 to March 1, 2003/$0.04 before September 1, 2001 for the first MPEG-2 Video Event, plus $0.01 for each additional 30 minutes or portion recorded on the same copy, but not to exceed (a) US $0.03 from March 1, 2003/$0.035 from September 1, 2001 to March 1, 2003/$0.04 before September 1, 2001 for a single Movie, (b) US $0.02 for the second Movie recorded on the same copy as the first Movie, and (c) US $0.01 for each copy having a normal playing time up to and including but not more than 12 minutes of video programming encoded into an MPEG-2 compliant format (Sections 2.4 and 3.1.6-3.1.8 ). "MPEG-2 Video Event" (Section 1.28 ) is a unit of video information having a normal playing time of any length up to and including 133 minutes, and "Movie" (Section 1.10) is a single motion picture and related materials but not a second motion picture whether or not related. (Note: There is also an alternative which applies only to MPEG-2 Packaged Medium that complies with DVD Specifications for Read-Only Disc Version 1.01 instead of that provided in Sections 2.4 and 3.1.6-3.1.8 of the License: US $0.03 from March 1, 2003/$0.035 from September 1, 2001 to March 1, 2003/$0.04 before September 1, 2001 per disc having a single encoded layer, US $0.06 per disc having two encoded layers, plus US $0.02 per disc for each encoded layer more than two but not to exceed US $0.03 from March 1, 2003/$0.035 from September 1, 2001 to March 1, 2003/$0.04 before September 1, 2001 for a single Movie.)

To make it easier for MPEG LA’s customers to account for their MPEG-2 Packaged Medium royalties, effective September 1, 2005, Licensees may elect a simplified option for reporting MPEG-2 Packaged Medium royalties under which they pay US $0.03 for each MPEG-2 video disc regardless of its specific content or playing time (except where the playing time is 12 minutes or less in which case the royalty would continue to be $0.01). By choosing this option, Licensees may avoid having to distinguish between Movie and non-Movie content or otherwise accounting for the non-Movie playing time of MPEG-2 Packaged Medium, except where the playing time is 12 minutes or less. Please note, for example, that while the above current License provisions allow Licensees to pay US $0.03 for two DVD discs consisting of one Movie and related materials, choosing the new option will require Licensees to pay US $0.03 for each disc regardless.

http://www.mpegla.com/m2/m2-agreement.cfm

HTH
Chris

Hi Chris

Yes, that's exactly what I had seen on their website. Not a lawyer, my reading is that for every DVD an author/developer (creates?) sells, they would owe either the fee based on the complex formula or on the flat rate, if elected instead.

If this is so (based on my reading), is there an alternative codec that Opus DVD files can be written in or converted to, that (1) can be played widely on standalone DVD/CD players and on non-computer based home entertainment players and (2) requires no royalty? It would be nice if the WMF, AVI types compatible with Windows Media Player could be read by standalone players, but I suspect they're not.

This is a complex area for me as a novice, but I suspect some advanced Opus users and the DW team have experience with it and may be able to provide some viable alternatives. Otherwise, the Opus DVD publication feature appears to be only limitedly useful especially for authors and developers wanting to create royalty free commercial video pubs.

Thanks, Chris, for your reply.

Kind Regards,
Stephen

Sorry I gave what appears to be wrong advise for your situation. I completely missed the part that the DVD would be sold commercially, not the end product of your work and delivered as such. The info following mine is correct for what you want to do, obviously. Answering posts too late at night will cause such problems.

DVD is MPEG2, there's no real way round it. You could make a Video CD (which is MPEG1), but that's substantially lower quality and won't play in all DVD players so isn't really a good solution.

Hi Dave

Thank you for your reply.

Even though MPEG1 provides less quality, could you tell me how I could go about creating a video in MPEG1 using Opus. (Does MPEG1 have royalty fees? Hopefully, not.)

I checked some video FAQ sites, and MPEG1 can be used on about 66% of DVD players. As to quality, I'm only interested in very basic screens and would like to see if MPEG1 will work for them.

Kind Regards,
Stephen

Opus can't create MPEG1 directly. You'd need to produce an AVI or a DVD and then convert the video to MPEG1 using some other software.

Hi Dave

Is there capacity in Opus to publish or produce an AVI directly?

Stephen

Yes - choose Opus Video creator as publication type.

Thanks, Dave

Stephen