A 25-Year-Old Brazilian Video Patent Just Expired, Ending a Lingering Legal Headache for Linux
A 25-year-old video patent just expired, ending a legal headache for Linux
A Brazilian patent filed by Siemens AG in 2001, part of the MPEG-4 Visual Patent Portfolio, expired on July 19, 2026. This removes the last patent obstacle preventing MPEG-4 Part 2 (DivX/Xvid) from being patent-free worldwide. While the patent didn't significantly hinder Linux distributions—Fedora even shipped xvidcore in 2023—it did impose legal restrictions on royalty payments for MPEG-4 decoders and encoders in certain countries. The expiration marks the end of a minor but persistent legal issue for the open-source community, though modern video formats like H.264/AVC (MPEG-4 Part 10) remain under patent.
So, yeah, the Linux community isn't free to take the MP4 format and run with it wherever it pleases.
- Brendinooo
What other tech patents did we somewhat resent being patented that are now expired?
I'm also thinking about the click wheel; I got one of my kids a knockoff iPod for Christmas last year.
Can other e-commerce sites legally "one-click" to purchase like Amazon now?!?
- Dylan16807
> The videos we watch on modern systems using H.264/AVC tech are running off MPEG-4 Part 10, and that is still very much covered by patents.
I dispute "very much". It came out in 2004 and almost all the patents are gone.
- nashashmi
I remember DivX fondly. Even on dialup, picture quality was just phenomenal. Web tv watching was actually doable after this
edit: I am talking about divx web player
- FuturisticLover
Siemens holding one of the key patents in video codecs surprises me. I am not technically savvy, but I thought telecom infrastructure or direct media companies would hold the most important patents on this.
- ChrisArchitect
Discussion on the news in July: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48969635
- nnevatie
> MPEG-4 Part 2
Yes, if you care about the DVD-era still. If not, this expiry doesn't have a big impact on anything.
- senshan
Brazil? Why a Brazilian patent is of such a significant interest elsewhere?
- unfitted2545
Are patents a necessary evil?