Pay? That sounds really really odd for a FOSS codec. Your Windows install should prompt to install the HEIF codec package, which includes things like AV1 and HEIC.

If that fails, you can always run the Debian installer to fix the issue.

Edit: Saw this posted later in my feed. The enshitifcation continues I guess: https://www.extremetech.com/computing/windows-11s-new-media-player-uses-35x-more-ram-charges-for-popular-video