ISO/IEC 21000-9:2005, the MPEG-21 File Format, defines an open framework for multimedia delivery and consumption, with both the content creator and content consumer as focal points. The vision for MPEG-21 is to define a multimedia framework to enable transparent and augmented use of multimedia resources across a wide range of networks and devices used by different communities.

ISO/IEC 21000-9:2005 is designed to contain a base MPEG-21 XML document with some or all of its ancillary resources, potentially in a single package. It forms part of a family of specifications which are box-structured, and is built using tools from the ISO Base Media File Format ISO/IEC 14496-12 (technically identical to 15444-12), specifically those that provide the unified structural approach to both static meta-data (untimed meta-data) and MPEG-21 integrated document handling.