Six Japanese and U.S. companies with DVD-related patents are negotiating with Chinese makers to charge about 4 percent of the price of a DVD player as royalties, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported Saturday.
"Negotiations between the China Electronic Acoustic Equipment Association and six of the world's leading DVD technology developers are moving up to the core issue of royalties," Xinhua said.
In one of the latest proposals, the six companies are to receive 4 percent of the price of a DVD player, Xinhua said, citing a report the same day by the China Daily.
Details are still under negotiation, it added.
The six companies are Hitachi Ltd., Toshiba Corp., Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Victor Co. of Japan, as well as AOL Time-Warner Inc. of the United States.
The companies began negotiations over DVD patent royalty fees with the Chinese industry association, which represents about 100 Chinese firms producing and selling DVD players without paying royalties.
Detailed agreements are likely to be reached in late May or early June, the report said.