Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think you're confused. WebM is a container not a codec. And either way VP9 and AV1 are simply inferior codecs to H.265 in almost every way. And as for royalty free well that's because MPEG-LA has't ever sued but they did give a royalty free license to Google for patents infringed by VP9. And since Google accepted it does indicate that AV1 is likely to also be patent encumbered. We would all like a royalty free code…
> And either way VP9 and AV1 are simply inferior codecs to H.265 in almost every way. Source? AV1 is already beating HEVC in compression and it's not even finalized yet: https://youtu.be/lzPaldsmJbk?t=2416
Also the link you posted is using x265 which as the article suggests was ranked 4th out the 6 available encoders: http://compression.ru/video/codec_comparison/hevc_2016/MSU_H...
And whilst AV1 and H.265 are pretty close in PSNR where it is inferior is in vendor support. There are TVs for example available today that natively support H.265 whereas AV1 is still in development. Not to mention all of the terrestrial broadcast providers all using H.265.