H.264’s “$100K cap” is gone—if you missed 2025
Via Licensing Alliance (Via) introduced a new AVC (H.264) Streaming License fee schedule for new licenses starting in 2026, replacing the prior $100,000 annual cap model with tiered fees that can reach a $4.5 million annual list price for the largest OTT, FAST, social, and cloud gaming platforms. Via states that existing AVC streaming licensees as of end-2025 are grandfathered under their prior terms, meaning the higher tiers primarily affect previously unlicensed implementers seeking a license in 2026 or later. The article also discusses practical compliance details (single assessment across service types, per-legal-entity licensing, separate device vs streaming caps) and legal considerations around expiring patents and FRAND challenges, based on input from patent licensing attorney Jim Harlan.
Key Takeaways
- New 2026 streaming licenses move from a single cap to steep tiers, up to $4.5M/year list price for top-tier platforms.
- Grandfathering shields active pre-2026 licensees; the biggest exposure is for previously unlicensed implementers coming to market (or coming clean) now.
- Via says platforms are assessed once (not stacked across OTT/FAST/social), but licensing is per legal entity unless using an enterprise structure.
- Device royalties and streaming royalties have separate caps—hitting the device cap doesn’t reduce streaming obligations.
- “Most patents expired” isn’t a free pass: remaining territorial tail patents and FRAND dynamics still shape real risk and negotiation leverage.
Why It Matters
This is the new codec-royalty meme: “legacy” doesn’t mean “free,” and the penalty is increasingly paid by late joiners. For executives, the quiet rollout plus grandfathering creates an uneven playing field—incumbents keep low-cost terms while new entrants (including FAST rollups, social video upstarts, and cloud gaming) inherit multi-million-dollar list pricing. For engineers and strategists, it’s a reminder that “just stick to Baseline” is not a business strategy without claim-by-claim and country-by-country analysis. Zoom out: AVC is only one line item—content-royalty pools spanning AVC/HEVC/VP9/VVC/AV1 are turning codec choice into a balance-sheet decision.
Read full article at streamingmedia.com
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