The MP3 patent has expired, so it can be used freely.
The MP3 audio data compression technology and file format is very popular, but until recently, due to patent issues, audio editing apps could not include MP3 encoding functionality as standard. At the time of writing, the MP3 patent has expired, and software with MP3-related functionality can now be freely distributed.
You Didn't Notice MP3 Is Now Free
What does it mean that MP3 is free? | Hacker News
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42957517
MP3 is an audio data compression technology developed by the German research institute Fraunhofer , which gained widespread support as a technology that can reduce file size while minimizing loss of sound quality. However, the MP3 patent and license are managed by Technicolor, a French multimedia company, and it was necessary to enter into a license agreement with Technicolor in order to distribute software that includes MP3 encoding functions.
For this reason, some software with functions such as audio editing has adopted a distribution format that does not include an MP3 encoder and requires users to prepare one themselves. For example, Audacity, an open source audio editing software, did not include an MP3 encoder for a long time and required users to prepare their own MP3 encoder such as LAME . If you check the distribution page for the Windows version of Audacity as of February 2017, it is recommended that you prepare LAME separately to enable the MP3 file output function.
In April 2017, the MP3 patent expired and Technicolor stopped selling MP3 licenses, allowing anyone to develop and distribute software using MP3 technology.
Audacity has also been changed to incorporate LAME since version 2.3.3 released in May 2019.
Software developer Ibrahim Diallo , who noted that MP3 copyrights have long since expired, said that the popularity of high-speed internet and streaming services has made MP3s less important to the average user. But even if MP3s have lost their importance, the fact that they are still freely available is noteworthy.
By the way, in Japan, the patents for encoding and decoding of the video compression standard 'H.264' are scheduled to expire on August 9, 2025. H.264 patents are approaching their expiration date in other countries besides Japan, such as the United States, China, and Brazil, and the status in each country is summarized on the following page.
Have the patents for H.264 MPEG-4 AVC expired yet? - Meta
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Have_the_patents_for_H.264_MPEG-4_AVC_expired_yet%3F
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in Software, Posted by log1o_hf