{"id":82772,"date":"2020-10-06T11:02:30","date_gmt":"2020-10-06T08:02:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/decade-long-oracle-google-copyright-case-heads-to-top-us-court\/"},"modified":"2020-10-06T11:02:30","modified_gmt":"2020-10-06T08:02:30","slug":"decade-long-oracle-google-copyright-case-heads-to-top-us-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/decade-long-oracle-google-copyright-case-heads-to-top-us-court\/","title":{"rendered":"#Decade-long Oracle-Google copyright case heads to top US court"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Decade-long Oracle-Google copyright case heads to top US court<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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\"The
\n The decade-old copyright lawsuit filed by Oracle against Silicon Valley rival Google, with massive implications for the software industry, will be debated in the Supreme Court
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A decade-old legal battle between Silicon Valley giants Oracle and Google over software rights moves to the Supreme Court Wednesday, in a case with enormous implications for copyright in the digital era.<\/p>\n

The top court scheduled oral arguments in the case which dates back to a lawsuit filed in 2010 by Oracle seeking billions from Google over its use of Java programming language in its Android mobile operating system.<\/p>\n

Two separate jury trials ended with a determination that Google’s “software interface” did not unfairly use Java code, saving the internet giant from a possible multibillion-dollar verdict.<\/p>\n

But an app<\/a>eals court in 2018 disagreed, saying the software interface is entitled to copyright protection, prompting Google to take the case to the highest US court.<\/p>\n

Oracle, which in 2010 obtained the rights to Java when it acquired Sun Microsystems\u2014which had supported Google’s use of Java for Android\u2014sought $9 billion in damages in its original complaint.<\/p>\n

Google and many Silicon Valley allies have argued that extending copyright protection to bits of code, called application programming interfaces, or APIs, would threaten innovation in the fast-evolving digital world.<\/p>\n

According to Google, a win for Oracle would “upend the longstanding expectation of software developers that they are free to use existing computer software interfaces to build new programs.” <\/p>\n

The Developers Alliance, a nonprofit group which includes app makers and other tech firms, filed a supporting brief making a similar argument, arguing that “without shared APIs, every device and program is an island, and modern software development simply cannot happen.” <\/p>\n

The monopoly question<\/b><\/p>\n

The American Antitrust Institute argued in an amicus brief that allowing Oracle to maintain copyright protection “may slow innovation and competition in software-dependent markets,” and “may cement software-based monopolies.”<\/p>\n

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\"Google
\n Google and its backers argue that an Oracle victory in a long-running copyright case would threaten digital innovation
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The hearing comes amid heightened scrutiny of large technology<\/a> firms and with Google having seen its fortunes and dominance grow in the online world.
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The political overtones are also apparent in light of Oracle founder Larry Ellison’s close ties to US President Donald Trump and Google facing an antitrust investigation.<\/p>\n

The US government filed a brief supporting Oracle, arguing that copyright cannot be taken away from creators simply because it exists in digital format.<\/p>\n

Google “copied 11,500 lines of (Oracle’s) copyrighted code” as well as the “complex architecture of the 37 packages at issue,” a Justice Department brief said.<\/p>\n

The Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank, said in a court filing that allowing Google to walk away with “intellectual property theft” would make it hard to protect any digital property from Chinese misappropriation.<\/p>\n

Also siding with Oracle, the American Association of Publishers argued that weakening copyright protection would make it more difficult “to create and disseminate original works of authorship.”<\/p>\n

The two companies will argue on the question of “fair use” of copyrighted material for a “transformative” purpose. This standard which allows someone to create a completely new work does not require permission or licensing from the original author.<\/p>\n

Google has argued that a jury already determined its actions represented fair use and that the courts should honor that decision without prolonging the litigation.<\/p>\n

Oracle, in its latest brief, claimed that fair use “hinges on legal judgments that balance competing interests” of the parties.<\/p>\n

A decision by the court, which is hearing the case remotely with eight instead of nine justices following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is likely to make a decision in several weeks or months.<\/p>\n

A clear ruling for Google could end the marathon legal battle, while a decision for Oracle could send the case back to lower courts\u2014and a potential retrial.\n <\/p>\n\n

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Top US court to hear key Google-Oracle software case\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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\n \u00a9 2020 AFP<\/p>\n

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Citation<\/strong>:
\n Decade-long Oracle-Google copyright case heads to top US court (2020, October 6)
\n retrieved 6 October 2020
\n from https:\/\/techxplore.com\/news<\/a>\/2020-10-decade-long-oracle-google-copyright-case-court.html<\/p>\n

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