<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">Larry is right on that the "necessarily
infringed" language scopes the patent claims that are licensed. The
license would apply as written, however, to "this implementation"
only. I too wonder if this was intentional or a slip. I think
that it is the latter due to the FAQ reproduced here:</font>
<br>
<br><font size=3><b>What if someone makes a change to the code and gives
it to me. Do I have a patent license from Google for that change?</b></font>
<p><font size=3>You still have the right to redistribute but no patent
license for the changes (if there are any patents covering it). We can’t
give patent licenses for changes people make after we distribute the code,
as we have no way to predict what those changes will be. Other common licenses
take the same approach, including the Apache license.</font>
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<td width=40%><font size=1 face="sans-serif"><b>"Lawrence Rosen"
<lrosen@rosenlaw.com></b> </font>
<p><font size=1 face="sans-serif">05/20/2010 03:55 PM</font>
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<div align=right><font size=1 face="sans-serif">To</font></div>
<td><font size=1 face="sans-serif"><license-discuss@opensource.org>,
"'European Legal Network'" <ftf-legal@fsfeurope.org></font>
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<div align=right><font size=1 face="sans-serif">cc</font></div>
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<div align=right><font size=1 face="sans-serif">Subject</font></div>
<td><font size=1 face="sans-serif">Google's patent license for VP8 [was:
Google WebM?]</font></table>
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<br><font size=2 face="Calibri">Here is the patent provision of Google's
license for its VP8 codec:</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Calibri"> </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Calibri">Subject to the terms and conditions of
the above License, Google hereby grants to You a perpetual, worldwide,
non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable (except as stated in
this section) patent license to make, have made, use, offer to sell, sell,
import, and otherwise transfer this implementation of VP8, where such license
applies only to those patent claims, both currently owned by Google and
acquired in the future, licensable by Google that are necessarily infringed
by this implementation of VP8. If You or your agent or exclusive licensee
institute or order or agree to the institution of patent litigation against
any entity (including a cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging
that this implementation of VP8 or any code incorporated within this implementation
of VP8 constitutes direct or contributory patent infringement, or inducement
of patent infringement, then any rights granted to You under this License
for this implementation of VP8 shall terminate as of the date such litigation
is filed.</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Calibri"> </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Calibri">[See </font><a href=http://www.webmproject.org/license/software/><font size=2 color=blue face="Calibri"><u>http://www.webmproject.org/license/software/</u></font></a><font size=2 face="Calibri">.]
This license to the VP8 codec software otherwise resembles the BSD license.
In its first sentence it expressly authorizes "redistribution and
use [of this implementation] in source and binary forms, <b>with or without
modification</b>" (emphasis added).</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Calibri"> </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Calibri">It is typical for a patent owner to tie
its patent license to its own implementation, but open source copyright
licenses change all that. How does this limited patent license apply to
<b>modifications of this implementation</b> that are expressly authorized
by the remainder of this BSD-like license?</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Calibri"> </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Calibri">The way I could interpret this Google license,
the world is being granted a license to patent claims "necessarily
infringed by this implementation of VP8," and then those patent claims
are licensed for authorized derivative works (which are no longer "this
implementation"). Should I infer that Google is licensing its necessary
patent claims for much more than "this implementation"? Or not?
A patent and copyright license that allows modifications is illusory and
meaningless without also licensing those same necessary patent claims for
those authorized modifications. Or perhaps Google is locking us in to its
own specific implementation of VP8, thereby frustrating software freedom
and innovation.</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Calibri"> </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Calibri">How do you read this limited patent license
in combination with a generous BSD license? Is this a subtly phrased requirement
to conform to the VP8 specification or to use only Google's code, or just
a drafting ambiguity in an open source patent and copyright license? I
wish to believe the latter.</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Calibri"> </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Calibri">/Larry</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Calibri"> </font>
<br><font size=1 face="Calibri">Lawrence Rosen</font>
<br><font size=1 face="Calibri">Rosenlaw & Einschlag, a technology
law firm (</font><a href=http://www.rosenlaw.com/><font size=1 color=blue face="Calibri"><u>www.rosenlaw.com</u></font></a><font size=1 face="Calibri">)
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