Moving Picture, Audio and Data Coding by Artificial Intelligence (MPAI) is  an international non-profit organisation with the mission to promote the efficient use of Data by

  1. Developing Technical Specifications of
    • Moving Picture, Audio and Data Coding and Decoding, especially using new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, and
    • Technologies that facilitate integration of Coding components in ICT systems, and
  2. Bridging the gap between Technical Specifications and their practical use through the development of IPR Guidelines, such as Framework Licences and other instruments.

Examples of Data considered by MPAI include: media, manufacturing, automotive, health and generic data.

MPAI operates based on open international collaboration of interested parties who support the MPAI mission and the means to accomplish it.

The establishment of MPAI has been driven by the acknowledgement that standard coding technologies are unique enablers of businesses that handle large amounts of data. However, the current state of technology is such that many patented technologies from multiple and numerous sources are required to integrate state of the art solutions.

Framework Licences

The MPEG process has proved that it is possible to develop standards of excellent technical quality. However, the quality has not always ensured that

  • Patent holders are rewarded for their innovations brought into the standard and
  • Users easily know how much, to whom and how to pay for using the standard.

in a timely and wholesome manner.

MPAI employs a new process that promises to bridge the gap between standards and their practical use by defining a Framework Licence (FWL) and having it acknowledged before work on a standard begins. This is a short summary

Before the start of the technical work, active members (i.e. those who will participate in the technical development) will develop and adopt by a qualified majority the FWL, and individually declare that they will

  • Make available a licence of their essential patents drafted according to the FWL not after after commercial implementations of the TS become available on the market
  • Enter into a licensing agreement of other members’ essential patents, if used, within 1 year after the licences have been made available by other IPR holders

The main features of the FWL are that it

  • Is specific of a standard
  • Simplifies creation of patent pool(s)
  • Extends MPEG’s process
  • Fights the trend to debase IP

Users of the standard know the framework of the licence even before the work starts and can expect to have an earlier availability of the licence than before. IPR holders can expect to have an earlier and guaranteed flow of royalties.