Oracle had claimed that Google had illegally copied about 11,500 lines of Java code, which set out 37 separate APIs, and was owed as much as $9 billion in damages.
According to Oracle, Google’s APIs had violated Oracle Java copyright because they had duplicated Java APIs’ “structure, sequence, and organization.”
SCOTUS ruled that Google was in the right because of the “Copyright Act’s fair use provision: The nature of the work at issue favors fair use.”
Google said the Court’s opinion “is a victory for consumers, interoperability, and computer science. The decision gives legal certainty to the next generation of developers whose new products and services will benefit consumers.”
What is an API (Application Programming Interface)?
API is the acronym for Application Programming Interface, which is a software intermediary that allows two applications to talk to each other.
APIs are good to use to communicate to other software systems, such as if you are working with a credit card company and you use their API to process credit cards.
In the complaint Oracle claimed Google stole the Java code for 37 separate APIs. If the code is client-side code, which is viewable in any browser, then that is just tough.
If its server-side code that needs to be compiled and Google broke into their offices and stole it, like the C# code to software applications such as Microsoft Windows or Microsoft office that obviously is theft.
If it’s just client-side code like Java script, Java, and HTML, Oracle cannot charge a license for any API they created, or force everyone to ONLY use their API, I can see Oracle could charge a reasonable use fee.
Oracle could limit access or just turn the API access off if they do not want anyone to use it.
If Oracle was trying to claim that everyone on the planet must pay them to use ANY API that leverages any Java code, that is nuts, and the Supreme court ruling is correct.
Over the years I have had many interesting arguments with Java programmers, about their value within the whole scope of computer science.
They are just one small part of the bigger picture, and most overvalue their positions in it, just like this lawsuit and the ruling is overvalued in the overall world of software development.
References:
Reference 1: US Supreme Court – 18-956_d18f.pdf.
Reference 2: Copyright.gov – fair use.
Reference 3: CNN – Google Oracle Supreme-Court-Ruling.
Reference 4: ZDNET – Google beats Oracle in biggest programming copyright supreme court case ever.
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