March 19, 2001
PHILIPS TO AGRESSIVELY ATTACK UNLICENSED CD-R
THE INTERNATIONAL DISC DUPLICATING ASSOCIATION TO BOTH SUPPORT PATENT COMPLIANCE AND ASSIST MEMBERS WITH COMPLIANCE.
The International Disc Duplication Association (IDDA) that was established as a forum and a voice for those involved in the growing service of duplicating onto CD-R and DVD-R blank optical media, held its annual meeting at REPLItech on February 13, with standing room only.
One of the presentations was by Mr. Ben Beune of Philips Intellectual Property and Standards who indicated that Philips are actively and aggressively pursuing manufacturers and importers of unlicensed discs. Members actively engaged with Mr. Beune on CD-R licensing issues.
Mr. Beune explained that apart from ensuring that discs bought are from a 'licensed' manufacturer, it is of equal importance to verify that the discs so bought have been reported and royalties paid for by the supplier in accordance with the license agreement because only such discs qualify as "licensed products". Mr. Beune further explained that for the purpose of assisting buyers of discs in this verification process, Philips anticipates introducing a list of "Certified Manufacturers". Philips will post a list of the "Certified Manufacturers" on its website www.licensing.philips.com. This list will be available as from April 2002 onwards. Further, Philips will award a Certificate with expiry date to Certified Manufacturers. The Certificate will not only show that a particular company is licensed but further indicates that it has satisfactorily performed its obligations under the license agreement. Therefore customers should regularly check Philips' website and ask their suppliers to show valid Certificates for verification.
Mr. Beune warned, "Typically we would not go directly to the duplicators; first we go to the importers and then follow further up-stream"
Mr. Beune later conceded, while reserving their patent owner rights, that at this point there are no plans to attack CD and DVD Duplicators
The IDDA in order to protect its members, and ensure a level playing field is encouraging members to work with Philips Intellectual Property and Standards to minimize patent piracy.
The IDDA wants to ensure that by proper compliance and co-operation at no point are members of the IDDA who subscribe to its ethical standards are at risk of being attacked.
The IDDA will be publishing a guide relating to CD-R manufacturers on its site, www.discdupe.org, together with instructions on how to determine identity of the manufacturer of the discs. There will also be an explanation to help IDDA members and others to comply with licensing laws and avoid being targeted by Philips Intellectual Property and Standards.
The IDDA encourages members to respect and encourage others to respect proprietary rights. The IDDA believes that all users of CD-R and DVD-R should be using media on which the manufacturer has paid license fees.
There is also the possibility that unlicensed and unidentifiable media is of inferior quality, which could damage the high expectancy of reliability by users.
Mr. Beune also stated that compliant licensees can already enjoy a reduced royalty rate and that Philips did not intend to reduce license fees on CD-R. Philips has recently introduced reduced royalty rates (about 40% lower than the contractual rate) to compliant CD-Audio and CD-ROM replicators.
Philips Intellectual Property and Standards seems to respond best to co-operative measures on license fees.
The IDDA has members in the USA, Australia, Asia and Europe, including organizations that duplicate, label and pack CDs, together with those who manufacture and sell automatic disc duplicating machines, discs, labels and supplies.
For more information see www.discdupe.org, or contact Bernhard Kirschner at discdupe@hotmail.com or on +1 213 713 3773.