The last patent managed by Via in the video compression standard “MPEG-4 Visual,” known for DivX and Xvid, expires

The last active patent in Via Licensing Alliance’s MPEG-4 Visual pool expired in Brazil on July 19, 2026, ending the pool entirely.

MPEG-4 Visual, the codec used by DivX and Xvid, is now easier to handle without worrying about related licensing fees or distribution limits.

This could simplify software distribution and long-term preservation of older video archives.

The change matters for tools and projects such as VLC media player and FFmpeg that still support legacy media formats.