They don't get away with it. The are two separate issues: the software copyright license and the H.264 patent license. x264 itself is licensed under the GPL: h

They don't get away with it. The are two separate issues: the software copyright license and the H.264 patent license. x264 itself is licensed under the GPL: http://www.videolan.org/developers/x264.html http://www.videolan.org/developers/x264.html But if you use an H.264 encoder or decoder in a country that recognizes software patents then you need to buy a patent license if your usage comes under the terms of the license: https://www.mpegla.com/programs/avc-h-264/ https://www.mpegla.com/programs/avc-h-264/