The court said Google engaged in legitimate “fair use” when it put key aspects of Oracle’s Java programming language in the Android operating system. Writing for the court, Justice Stephen Breyer said Google used “only what was needed to allow users to put their accrued talents to work in a new and transformative programme”.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented. Justice Amy Coney Barrett didn’t take part in the case, which was argued before she joined the court.
Each side contended the other’s position would undercut innovation. Oracle said that without strong copyright protection, companies would have less incentive to invest the large sums needed to create ground-breaking products.
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WASHINGTON (AP) Technology companies sighed with relief Monday after the Supreme Court sided with Google in a copyright dispute with Oracle. The high court
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Apr 6, 2021
FILE - In this Oct. 4, 2018, file photo, the U.S. Supreme Court is seen at sunset in Washington. The Supreme Court is siding with Google in an $8 billion copyright dispute with Oracle. The justices sided with Google 6-2 on April 5, 2021. The case has to do with Google’s creation of the Android operating system now used on the vast majority of smartphones worldwide. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) Technology companies sighed with relief Monday after the Supreme Court sided with Google in a copyright dispute with Oracle. The high court said Google did nothing wrong in copying code to develop the Android operating system now used on most smartphones.
Supreme Court Sides With Google in Software Copyright Battle Against Oracle
The U.S. Supreme Court handed Alphabet Inc.’s Google a major victory on Monday, ruling that its use of Oracle Corp.’s software code to build the Android operating system that runs most of the world’s smartphones did not violate federal copyright law.
In a 6-2 decision, the justices overturned a lower court’s ruling that Google’s inclusion of Oracle’s software code in Android did not constitute a fair use under U.S. copyright law.
Justice Stephen Breyer, writing for the majority, said that allowing Oracle to enforce a copyright on its code would harm the public by making it a “lock limiting the future creativity of new programs. Oracle alone would hold the key.”