In Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc. (No. 18-956), the Court held that Google’s copying of certain portions of a computer program owned by Oracle was fair use under copyright law.
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Court finds that Google s re-use of code from Oracle s Java API constitutes fair use under the Copyright Act
On April 5, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court released its decision in
Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc.,
1 a long-awaited case addressing the boundaries of the copyright fair use defense as it applies to computer code. This is the first time the Court has addressed fair use in 28 years. It issued a resounding opinion in favor of innovation that dramatically changes how courts will analyze fair use with respect to computer software going forward.
On April 5, 2021, the United States Supreme Court held that Google did not infringe on Oracle’s copyrights by copying 11,500 lines of Oracle’s Java SE API code.
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In a narrowly drawn, yet significant decision, the Supreme Court
reversed the Federal Circuit and ruled that Google LLC s
( Google ) copying of some of the Sun Java Application
Programming Interface (API) declaring code was a fair use as a
matter of law, ending Oracle America Inc. s
( Oracle ) infringement claims over Google s use of
portions of the Java API code in the Android mobile platform. (
Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc.,
No. 18-956, 593 U.S. (Apr. 5, 2021)). In reversing the
2018 Federal Circuit decision that found
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Earlier this week, the Supreme Court issued a decision in the long-standing copyright battle between technology titans,
Google LLC and Oracle America, Inc.
1, Google LLC v. Oracle America Inc. , ruling 6-2 in favor of Google.
2 Oracle alleged that Google copied and used a limited portion of the code from the Java SE platform. The Court’s opinion, penned by Justice Breyer, said that when Google originally acquired Android, it had envisioned building the Android platform as a free and open environment that would allow software developers to use the platform to freely develop Android-based mobile applications, with the expectation that this open development marketplace would increase consumer value and demand for Android-based smartphones that had access to this broad range of applications.