Context:
- In 2022, a group of implementers approached Avanci, asking for the licensing administrator to repeat what it had created for Avanci Vehicle – a patent platform that offers licenses to the essential cellular technologies used by connected vehicles (latest coverage: July 17, 2025 ip fray article). The companies asked for a license that combined all video codec standards, patentees who historically don’t join other patent pools, and equal royalty terms for all licensees.
- In 2023, the licensing program administrator launched Avanci Video, with 25 licensors already onboard, covering all five of the most recent video technologies – AV1, H.265 (HEVC), H.266 (VVC), MPEG-DASH, and VP9 (October 18, 2023 Avanci press release). Today, the patent pool has over 43 licensors:
What’s new: Avanci Video today announced it has signed its first licensee, and, in parallel, has published the rates for its program (below this box and on its website). The unknown licensee has tens of millions of subscribers, a mixture of ad and subscription-based services, is available across Europe, the U.S., and Asia, and offers news, sports, and entertainment content.
Direct impact: The new licensee is a development that the program’s head Judy Yee believes is “only just the start” and means the principles that Avanci Video stands by are working. She told ip fray that the news shows Avanci Video has finally found terms that are “market-accepted”. The program currently offers two types of rates: % of the revenue of a streaming service (maximum 2%), or on a per-user basis (maximum $0.15 per month). A third, fixed, rate will be announced soon. It is also offering different discounts for a limited amount of time (details below this box).
Wider ramifications: The company expects this development to attract more licensees, and has said it will welcome anyone who provides streaming content, from video conferencing, to social media, to entertainment streaming. “Wherever those codecs are being used over the internet,” Ms. Yee noted. She also emphasized that Avanci Video is also open to more patent owners joining, “because that will always provide more value to the licensees”, and the price will remain the same for existing licensees no matter how many patentees join.
The rates
*The rates have ranges that depend on the number of standards a licensee chooses (can be anywhere between 1 and 5).
| % of revenue (of streaming service) | 1.6%-2% |
| Per user basis | $0.12–$0.15 per month |
| Fixed monthly royalty | To be announced |
Rate adjustments
There are also two types of “adjustments” that licensees can opt into (they can also be stacked):
| Early adopter | 10% discount. Contact Avanci for more details. Generally, companies that engage early and progress toward taking a license will qualify. |
| Promotional adjustment | An eligible licensee can take a license by July 5, 2026, or within six months of the first commercial implementation of AV1, H.265 (HEVC), H.266 (VVC), or VP9. The discount is derived from the use of the technology. |
Potential rate scenarios
Here are a couple of examples that licensees can refer to of ways they could be paying for the Avanci Video license:
Example #1
- A licensee generates $1.2 billion in annual revenue by providing linear TV
programming (a virtual multi-channel video programming distributor) to two million subscribers with a monthly fee of $50 per month per subscriber. It uses a mix of both HEVC (33%) and AVC (67%) to stream its content. - It would choose a one-standard license covering HEVC and would pay $850,000 per year in royalties. This is because it would elect to pay $0.12 per subscriber per month, benefit from a 10% early-adopter adjustment, and a 67% promotional adjustment.
Example #2
- A licensee generates $1 billion in annual revenue by providing a free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) service to 100 million subscribers with an ARPU of $10 per year per subscriber. It uses VP9 (10%), HEVC (25%), and AVC (65%) to stream its content.
- It would choose a two-standard license covering VP9 and HEVC, paying $5.7 million per year in royalties. This is because it would elect to pay 1.8% of revenue, benefit from a 10% early adopter adjustment, and an additional 65% promotional adjustment.