Codec Innovation and the Streaming Economy
New research from Tech+IP Advisory examines how compression technologies like HEVC, AV1, and VVC have enabled the streaming revolution while the innovators behind them often remain uncompensated.
Modern codecs generate over $5 in annual value per SVOD subscriber and more than $0.16 per monthly active social media user — figures projected to double within five years as 4K, HDR, and high frame rate streaming become the norm.
The Patent Licensing Gap
Yet a troubling pattern has emerged. Large implementers that championed these technologies during early deployment now often resist paying fair royalties to the engineers and inventors who created them, deploying legal challenges and commissioned reports to undermine patent value. This delays licensing, raises costs, and threatens the incentives needed to drive the next generation of codec innovation.
Download Codec Dividend: Sharing Streaming’s Success with Its Innovators below.
About Tech+IP
Tech+IP is the world's leading boutique investment bank at the intersection of intellectual property and artificial intelligence. Spun out of Houlihan Lokey (NYSE: HLI), we bring together deep tech engineering, foundational AI expertise, IP law acumen, and Wall Street finance experience. Over the past decade, Tech+IP has advised on transactions exceeding $9 billion in aggregate value, across M&A, financings, restructurings, and strategic advisory mandates, helping clients get full value across the global technology landscape.
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