Is libvpx-vp9 Free for Commercial Use?

This article examines the licensing model of the libvpx-vp9 library to determine if developers and businesses can use it for commercial projects without paying licensing fees. We will cover the software license, Google’s patent grants, how it compares to proprietary codecs, and potential legal considerations for commercial deployment.

The Short Answer: Yes

Yes, you can use libvpx-vp9 for commercial projects without paying licensing fees. The libvpx library (the software implementation) and the VP9 video coding format itself are designed to be open-source and royalty-free.

The Software License (BSD)

The reference software library for VP9, known as libvpx, is distributed under the New BSD License (specifically the 3-Clause BSD License). This is a highly permissive open-source license that explicitly permits:

• Commercial use
• Modification of the source code
• Distribution of the software
• Private use

Under this license, your only major obligation is to include the original copyright notice, the list of conditions, and the disclaimer in any distribution of the source code or binary.

Google’s Royalty-Free Patent License

Software code and software patents are two different legal concepts. To ensure that users of VP9 would not be sued for patent infringement, Google provides a royalty-free patent grant alongside the software license.

Under this grant, Google gives you a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, and irrevocable patent license to use, sell, and distribute VP9. However, this patent grant contains a “reciprocity” clause: if you sue Google or any other party claiming that VP9 infringes on your patents, your license to Google’s VP9 patents is immediately terminated.

How VP9 Compares to Proprietary Codecs

The primary benefit of using libvpx-vp9 in commercial products is the avoidance of the complex and expensive licensing schemes associated with MPEG codecs.

Unlike H.264 (AVC) and H.265 (HEVC), which require licensing fees through patent pools like Access Advance or MPEG LA once certain distribution thresholds are met, VP9 requires:

• Zero royalty fees per unit sold.
• Zero annual caps or reporting requirements.
• Zero licensing fees for streaming content.

Third-Party Patent Pools (A Note of Caution)

While Google asserts that VP9 is royalty-free, a patent pool administrator named Sisvel established a VP9 patent pool in 2019, claiming that several companies hold patents essential to the VP9 format.

Despite Sisvel’s claims, major tech companies (including Google, Netflix, Amazon, and YouTube) continue to use and distribute VP9 globally without paying royalties to Sisvel. Google maintains that its patent indemnity and the structure of the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) protect the format. For most commercial developers, the risk remains low, but businesses with massive scale should consult their legal counsel regarding third-party patent pools.