Oracle vs Google

[paserbyp]

In a decision with potentially far reaching implications for the software industry, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has once again ruled that Google's use of certain Java code in Android infringes upon Oracle's copyrights. The Appeals Court opinion on March 27 reverses a 2016 jury verdict and subsequent court decision in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California that went in favor of Google. The three-judge panel at the Federal Circuit that reviewed the case has remanded it back to the district court for a third trial to determine damages. The appellate court ruling means Google could owe Oracle billions of dollars for using Oracle code in its mobile operating system for at least a decade. Oracle has claimed more than $8 billion in damages from Google, but the actual amount could end up being higher because of how widely Android is currently used compared to when the lawsuit was first filed in 2010. Furthermore if the ruling withstands further appeals by Google and if Google ends up paying billions in damages to Oracle, it could have broad repercussions on how software developers use Java APIs when building software. The larger issue behind the ruling is how it might slow or even halt the use of programming APIs by developers. Other software vendors emboldened by Oracle's success might pursue copyright infringement litigation for various software development APIs.

The dispute between Oracle and Google involves 37 Java API packages that Oracle claims are copyrighted and patent protected and which Google has used in Android without obtaining a license first. Google has not disputed the use of the API packages in question, but has claimed the use is protected under fair use laws. While Oracle has claimed Google copied copyright protected content verbatim, Google has maintained the API packages it used are purely functional in nature and critical to write programs in Java. The company has essentially described its use of the APIs as meeting the definitions of both fair use and transformative under U.S. copyright laws. At the first trial, a jury agreed that Google had infringed on Oracle's copyright but couldn't come to a unanimous decision on the matter of fair use. The district court later held the APIs were not copyrightable given their functional nature and ruled in favor of Google. The Federal Circuit court ruled in Oracle’s appeal that certain declarative code and the structure, sequence and organization of the Java APIs are entitled to copyright protection and remanded the case back to the district court. This week's ruling follows a second jury trial on the matter, which also ended up being in Google's favor. As it did after the first trial, Oracle appealed the second trial result with the Federal Circuit court. This is the second-time the appeal's court has sided with Oracle's position on the matter. Google has previously attempted to get the US Supreme Court to review the core claims in the case, but so far the nation's highest court has declined to do so.

Bottom line is by ruling the APIs are copyrightable the U.S. circuit court has upended a standard software industry practice regarding the use of such code and created considerable legal uncertainty for developers.

Comments

[chuka_lis]

а вы за кого?)

[paserbyp]

...я в религиозных войнах не участвую так как и те и другие не правы... поэтому я - дезертир и на Лари Эллисона или на Сергея Брина - не работаю и не нанимался...

[chuka_lis]

вы называете их- религиозными?
а разве они, не "правовые"? или, даже глубже- экономические..
это ж, традиционно о копирайте..

[paserbyp]

...все религиозные войны - это войны правовые, экономические и о авторском праве... конечно, я немножко сарказничаю по поводу религиозных войн, но я в этом не далеко ушел от истины, так как последователи Open Source Software и в частности Google, давно превратились в религиозную секту, я уже и не говорю о Richard Stallman... что же касается "пророка" и "оракла" Лари Эллисона, то он вообще чем старше, тем все больше становится похож на бога спустившегося на землю и поклоняющегося золотому тельцу, не приходя в сознание...

[chuka_lis]

ой, в самом деле, все так запущено?

[paserbyp]

...вы себе даже и не представляете!

...когда Sun Microsystem разработал Java в 1995 году, то идея была как раз в том чтобы не создавать барьеров для программистов, которые написав программу на Java, могли быть уверена, что она будет работать на любом компьютере или телефоне без всяких изменений( "write once, run anywhere" (WORA))... но прошло время и в 2010 году Sun Microsystem купил Лари Эллисон за 9 миллиардов... сколько он вложил в развитие и поддержку Java я могу только догадываться, но это сумма за 8 лет составляет наверно несколько сотен миллионов... и вот теперь после всех своих затрат, включая оплату многомиллионных гонораров юристам по правам собственности - это вполне логично для Лари Эллисона наехать на богатеньких гуглов, чтобы возместить свои расходы и заработать...

[chuka_lis]

нда, деньги правят миром..

[paserbyp]

Люди гибнут за металл и сатана там правит бал.