Jerome Rota – Copyright Hero

To some, Jerome Rota is something of a folk hero, a legend of the modern era who managed to finally drive home the message to increasingly oppressive corporate tactics:  we can beat you, and your insignificant copyright protections. To others, he is the man who ended up becoming the very thing that he had initially fought against and despised, branding him a perjurer and hypocrite. The truth, like in any other such situation is entirely relative, and so it falls to us to make up our own minds as to what version of the facts we wish to believe.

The name Jerome Rota is synonymous with the now (in)famous DivX video codec and with good reason: it is Rota who was the mastermind behind the initial conception and subsequent development of the DivX codec. Originally, the DivX codec was nothing more than a skilfully (not to mention illicitly) acquired extract of the Microsoft MPEG-4 Version 2 video codec, with a few modifications implemented at Mr Rota’s discretion.

As news of his accomplishment travelled, more and more software developers provided their input and creative talents towards the enterprise. In an ironic turn of events, these contributions ended up surpassing the power and capabilities of DivX ;-) 3.11 Alpha codec , the codec which Mr Rota had devised as the copy of the Microsoft codec.  The vast majority of these contributions allowed a great deal more functionality than the DivX ;-) 3.11 Alpha codec.

Realising that his beloved DivX ;-) 3.11 Alpha codec could be harnessed for a significant monetary gain, Mr Rota decided that he would form his own company, and then market his own codec, which he duly dubbed DivX 4.0 and which was retailed as a commercial product, i.e. fees were levied for it usage. To the anger of many, the DivX 4.0 codec was actually the aggregate of the collective efforts of thousands of dedicated and skilled software developers, who then saw their work snatched away and then sealed from their grasp forever by virtue of copyright law.