The MEDIA-TECH Association (MTA) has launched two initiatives geared at easing the increasingly pressured arena of disc manufacture. First, in an open letter to the physical media industry, Bryan Ekus of the MTA has pointed out the need to examine closely the various bodies who claim to be one-stop shops for Blu-ray licensing. “The BD manufacturing arena requires immediate and urgent clarity on the cost of royalty and fees to be added to the material manufactured cost of the BD disc,” Ekus said.
The Association has long faced concerns from its replicator members over the increasing amount of claims on their disc manufacturing profits. It lists BD4C and One Blu (One Red), which both claim to be holding valid patents for the format and each represent a different group of patent holders. “It is apparent from the questions asked of these companies, that there may be yet further patent holders also having a claim for royalties on Patents in relation to the BD disc from manufacturers producing the BD disc as part of their normal business practice,” Ekus continued.
MPEG LA and AACS also have a claim to fees and royalties and there are industry fears that there are other potential claimants out there and not belonging to any of these groups. The One Blu (One Red) Licensing program has been condemned as being replicator-unfriendly, with a very labour-intensive reporting schemes, shifting further and unnecessary costs to the replicators who face increasingly reduced margins.
The second initiative is also geared at helping reduce replication costs: MTA, together with the Colonial Purchasing USA, has successfully started is a European Purchasing program of polycarbonate. In Q4, six MEDIA-TECH member companies participated in the program that resulted in the price of polycarbonate to drop by approximately 20% across Europe, Ekus told Digital2Disc, quoting MTA co-founder Roland Lacher, who recently commented: “Putting our ego’s aside and working as single voice has true benefits.”
Ekus urges disc producers to allow the Association to speak to the licensing groups and the suppliers of materials together with Colonial Purchasing on their behalf of your company. “This will create new dimensions for the industry and many tangible benefits as being a member of the Association,” he stressed
