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Google s use of Java code was fair use, SCOTUS rules in Oracle copyright battle
Google Headquarters in Mountain View, California. Photo from Shutterstock.com.
Google did not violate copyright law when it copied a portion of Java programming language for use in its Android platform for smartphones, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday in a 6-2 decision.
Justice Stephen G. Breyer wrote the majority opinion holding that Google’s use of the code was fair use.
Google copied about 11,500 lines of code, out of 2.86 million lines, from the Java SE program owned by Oracle America Inc.’s predecessor, Sun Microsystems. About a hundred Google engineers then worked for more than three years to create the company’s Android platform software.
Top state court recognizes same-sex adultery as grounds for divorce
Image from Shutterstock.com.
The New Hampshire Supreme Court has overturned a 2003 decision that had defined adultery as voluntary intercourse between members of the opposite sex.
Ruling Thursday in a divorce case, the state supreme court defined adultery as intercourse between a married person and someone other than the married person’s spouse, regardless of sex. Intercourse can include any genital contact, not just vaginal penetration, the court said.
The husband in the case, Robert Blaisdell, had claimed that he was entitled to a divorce on fault-based grounds of adultery because of his wife’s alleged relationship with another woman. Blaisdell’s wife is Molly Blaisdell.
Professional exonerators contributed to more than 60% of last year s exonerations
Ricky Davis holds up a shirt with the logo of the Northern California Innocence Project after his release from custody at the El Dorado County Jail in Placerville, California, on Feb. 13, 2020. Davis spent about 15 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of second degree murder. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Conviction integrity units and innocence organizations are contributing to an increasing number of exonerations over time, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.
The two kinds of groups “professional exonerators” that re-examine questionable convictions played important roles in 61% of the 129 exonerations that occurred in 2020, according to the National Registry’s annual report.
The power of silence in legal practice
Your Voice
By James H. Fierberg
“Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.” Leonardo da Vinci
I have spent 40 years in practice and nearly as long serving as an official and unofficial mentor for young lawyers, as well as more than a decade as an educator at many levels, including law school. All these experiences have informed me of the important skills that lawyers need to master for success, most of which are not taught in law school. These are the so-called tricks of the trade or psychological game theories that a lawyer learns along the way, whether through committed, mindful mentoring or by trial and error.