Created: 2022-09-18
Tags: #fleeting
Media File Support In Browsers
Note: Several popular formats, such as MP3 and MP4/H.264, are excellent but are encumbered by patents; that is, there are patents covering some or all of the technology that they're based upon. In the United States, patents covered MP3 until 2017, and H.264 is encumbered by patents through at least 2027.
Because of those patents, browsers that wish to implement support for those codecs must pay typically enormous license fees. In addition, some people prefer to avoid restricted software and prefer to use only open formats. Due to these legal and preferential reasons, web developers find themselves having to support multiple formats to capture their entire audience.