Access Advance LLC CEO Pete Moller Talks Video Distribution Patent (VDP) Pool Launch
Today, Access Advance announced the launch of its Video Distribution Patent (VDP) Pool, a comprehensive licensing program for streaming content encoded with HEVC, VVC, AV1, and VP9 codecs. The pool aims to simplify video codec licensing for content distributors while addressing industry challenges around codec adoption, royalty costs, and patent litigation.
Jan Ozer interviewed CEO Pete Moller to discuss the motivation behind the pool, its structure, and the expected impact on the industry. Below are some quick facts, along with the draft press release we received and a lightly edited transcript of the conversation.
Quick Facts
- The pool covers streaming content.
- Companies generating less than $25,000 in royalties for any six-month period will be exempt, effectively excluding smaller entities like churches, schools, and small businesses.
- Covers HEVC, VP9, AV1, and VVC, with one charge for all content.
- Fees are tiered based on three key metrics: monthly active users, subscriber counts, and streaming revenue.
- The royalty rates will be disclosed by the end of March 2025.
- Royalties will start accruing on January 1, 2025.
- Licensees that join by June 30, 2025, will have previous royalties waived and will receive a 25% discount through 2030.
- Access Advance expects most current patent owners from existing pools to join, along with patent owners from other pools such as Sisvel, Via-LA, and Avanci. Offsets will be provided for licensees that join two pools with duplicate coverage of the same patents.
- Access Advance acknowledges that some patent owners, like Nokia, will continue to license bilaterally and likely won’t join the VDP.
Here's a lightly edited transcript of the conversation.
Lightly Edited Transcript: Interview with Pete Moller, CEO of Access Advance
Jan Ozer: Hi, I’m Jan Ozer. I’m meeting today with Pete Moller, CEO of Access Advance, a patent pool administrator with two prominent pools for HEVC and VVC, which cover encoders and decoders but not streaming content. Pete is here to talk about a new pool called the Video Distribution Patent Pool, or VDP, which does cover internet streaming content. Pete, busy day. Thanks for joining us.
Pete Moller: Yeah, thanks, Jan. We appreciate you taking the time to ask us questions about this new pool and to give us a voice here. So, thank you.
Jan Ozer: So, tell us about the new pool. What does it cover? What codecs are included? When is it formalized? And most importantly, when do royalties start to accrue?
Pete Moller: Sure, Jan. The pool covers any branded offering—a service or a website—through which video or other content encoded in one of four codecs, that’s HEVC, VVC, VP9, or AV1, is transmitted over the internet for viewing primarily by natural persons or entities other than the content provider. So, what we think of as typical streaming media, whether it’s a subscription company, social media, or otherwise.
We are in the process of formalizing the pool. Today, we’re announcing the launch, which means we’re declaring that the pool is being formalized. Agreements should be finalized today, and we’ll then start a six-month process where we expect to sign on a large number of licensors, licensees, patent owners, and implementers.
As for royalties, they will start accruing on January 1, 2025. We’re also offering a significant concession: licensees who sign up before the end of June 2025 will get a waiver for past royalties. After June 30, we will negotiate settlements for past usage, but there won’t be a blanket waiver.
Jan Ozer: When you talk about content, are there any exclusions? Is there a de minimis exception for small organizations, like churches or schools?
Pete Moller: Yes, just like in our HEVC and VVC device programs, we provide a royalty waiver for smaller entities. Specifically, there’s a $25,000 credit for every six-month reporting period. This effectively eliminates royalties for small organizations. Our intent is not to seek royalties from mom-and-pop companies or people with small followings. You would need to have hundreds of thousands of subscribers or over a million active users to owe royalties.
Jan Ozer: There are a lot of pools out there for related technologies. Sisvel has AV1 and VP9 pools, and Avanci has a content pool. How does this work in terms of patents covered in your pool?
Pete Moller: We expect to get the vast majority of licensors in our HEVC and VVC pools, which include over 60 patent owners between them. That would represent a substantial majority of the standard essential patents for these codecs.
Our content program is separate from our device programs, which will continue as is. This pool is specifically for streaming content and will serve as an alternative to the Avanci program.
Jan Ozer: Does this mean I’d have to sign agreements with both Avanci and Access Advance?
Pete Moller: There’s no restriction on patent owners joining multiple pools, so we expect some overlap. If a licensee pays for the same patents in multiple pools, we’ll provide offsets to ensure they don’t pay twice.
Jan Ozer: What are the incentives for content distributors to join early?
Pete Moller: There are two substantial benefits to joining before June 30, 2025. First, we’ll waive royalties for past usage. Second, early adopters get a 25% royalty discount through 2030. These are very significant concessions for early joiners.
Jan Ozer: How does the fee structure work? Streaming businesses operate under very different models—SVOD, AVOD, hybrids. How do you impose royalties fairly?
Pete Moller: We’ve developed a unique structure with six tiers: a base tier and tiers one through five. It’s a fixed fee for each tier and covers all four codecs, so licensees don’t pay extra to try newer codecs like VVC or AV1.
We base tier placement on three metrics: monthly active video users, monthly active subscribers, and streaming revenue. A licensee’s fee is determined by the highest tier they qualify for across these metrics.
We spent a lot of time developing this system to ensure fairness for companies of equivalent size and usage, whether they’re the largest social media platform or a big streaming service.
Jan Ozer: Are the royalty rates known and just not disclosed, or are they still being decided?
Pete Moller: The rates are known. The reason we’re not disclosing them publicly yet is that, based on past experience, royalty structures can be misunderstood. We’ve been briefing companies one-on-one to ensure they fully understand the structure before we make it public. We plan to release the rates by the end of March 2025.
Jan Ozer: Why launch the pool now?
Pete Moller: There are three main reasons. First, the industry came to us and asked for this. Patent owners and streaming providers approached us directly because of our success with HEVC and VVC pools.
Second, the market has changed. In the past six months, there’s been a clear recognition that streaming providers need to pay royalties.
Third, we’ve developed a structure that meets the industry’s needs. It’s codec-agnostic, so you can use any of the four codecs for the same fee. We also ensured the rates are modest for distributors and fair to patent owners.
Jan Ozer: Are concerns over licensing uncertainty slowing codec adoption?
Pete Moller: Yes, we’ve heard from companies putting the brakes on adopting newer codecs like VVC because of licensing uncertainty. This pool addresses those concerns and encourages adoption by providing clarity and predictable costs.
Jan Ozer: What about independent licensors like Nokia?
Pete Moller: Some companies, especially those with 3G, 4G, or 5G portfolios, have always licensed independently and likely will continue to do so. Most of them license on a product basis rather than a codec basis. We would welcome them, but realistically, not every patent owner will join a pool.
Jan Ozer: What about patents from pools like Sisvel or VLA?
Pete Moller: If a licensor’s patents have already been vetted by Sisvel or VLA, we have a reduced process for them to join our pool. We don’t duplicate due diligence, but we do apply our own evaluation standards.
Jan Ozer: Thanks, Pete, for taking the time to explain this new program.
Pete Moller: Thank you for giving us this opportunity.
Here's the Press Release Draft we received
Access Advance Announces Video Distribution Patent Pool in Response to Market Demand
Pool Covers Internet Streaming of the HEVC, VVC, AV1, and VP9 Video Codecs in a Single License
BOSTON – (January __, 2025) –Responding to growing market demand for an industry solution for codec licensing in the video distribution market, Access Advance LLC (“Advance”) is pleased to announce the launch of its Video Distribution Patent (“VDP”) Pool.
The VDP Pool will build upon the success of Advance’s existing HEVC and VVC Advance Patent Pools, which are supported by a substantial majority of video codec implementers and patent owners. It will provide a single one-stop-shop license, covering internet streaming with all four of the most recently developed video codecs (i.e., HEVC, VVC, AV1, and VP9) available today, with fixed tiered pricing scaled to the size of the video distributor’s business. This structure provides simplicity and predictability to internet video distributors, allowing them to choose which codec(s) to use based on technical and business merits rather than royalty costs or the need to negotiate multiple licenses.
According to Peter Moller, CEO of Advance, “In recent years, the industry has increasingly sought to license video codec patents directly to content streaming providers, which have benefitted tremendously from their use of patented, efficient video codecs. Advance has been approached by market participants, from both internet video distributors and patent owners, who believe we are uniquely positioned to achieve a rapid aggregation of patents to clear substantial IP risk while establishing a framework for fair and reasonable rates.
Our patent pool approach not only balances the interests of both internet video distributors and patent owners but also takes into account the many different business models for internet video streaming. We expect our pool will quickly gain market support and help prevent the alternative of significant market disruption: litigation (where injunctive relief and large damages may be sought), and slower or stalled market adoption and innovation in video codecs due to fear and uncertainty over royalty rates.
With regards to royalty rates, we have met with many internet video distributors and patent owners over the past year to review and seek input on the program. Nevertheless, to prevent any confusion, we plan to dedicate the next couple of months to further engage with interested market players before announcing the rate structure to the public.”
The VDP Pool also offers substantial incentives for internet video distributors and patent owners that join the program on or prior to June 30, 2025. We encourage every market participant to learn more about the program, including available incentives and discounts, by emailing us at (e-mail:xxx).
About Access Advance:
Access Advance LLC is an independent licensing administrator company formed to lead the development, administration, and management of patent pools for licensing essential patents of the most important standards-based video codec technologies. Access Advance provides a transparent and efficient licensing mechanism for both patent owners and patent implementers.
Access Advance currently manages and administers the HEVC Advance Patent Pool for licensing over 25,500 patents essential to H.265/HEVC technology, and the separate and independent VVC Advance Patent Pool for licensing essential patents to VVC/H.266 technology. The HEVC Advance Patent Pool and the VVC Advance Patent Pool are elements of the Access Advance Video Codec Platform Initiative that seamlessly incorporates HEVC and VVC technologies into a single discounted royalty rate structure through the Multi-Codec Bridging Agreement for eligible Licensees whose products include both HEVC and VVC codecs. This innovation responds to the market’s desire for an even more efficient next-generation pool licensing structure. For more information, please visit www.accessadvance.com.
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