Firm boosts H.264 streaming license fees from $100k up to staggering $4.5M (tomshardware.com)

Via Licensing Alliance (Via LA) has restructured H.264/AVC streaming patent license fees, replacing a flat $100,000 annual cap with tiered rates that can reach $4.5 million per year for the largest platforms. The change applies only to new licenses for unlicensed implementers starting in 2026 or later, while existing licensees were grandfathered. The move follows similar—and more damaging—fee hikes for HEVC/H.265 that reportedly caused licensing and even device bans in some markets, and it adds to broader increases from other codec patent pools.