Ridhima Achaliya B001

GOOGLE v. ORACLE AMERICA, INC.

Introduction to the case

Oracle America, the plaintiff sued Google, the defendant here for the patent and copyright
infringement in 2010 based on Google’s use of Oracle’s Java API in its Android software. It is
one of the very popular and recent legal cases related to the nature of computer code and
copyright law. The case holds a significant importance as APIs are openly available and widely
used in software developments.

Oracle initiated the suit arguing that the APIs were copyrightable, seeking US$8.8 billion in damages
from Google's sales and licensing of the earlier infringing versions of Android.
Plaintiff’s claim: “ (NDTV)We strongly believe that Google developed Android by illegally copying core
Java technology to rush into the mobile device market.”
Google countered that the Java Language has always been “free and open” to use – that included re
using JAVA APIs.

History of the events

1996 - 2010

In 1996 Sun released Java as a free and open source programming language which can be used without
any license. Sun happily accepted and listed Google as one of the firms using the Java script in 2007. In
2008 Google released Android which was based on APIs only made from Java script which was suitable
for the new age smart phones. Later in 2010, Orcale America acquired Sun.

2010

In 2010 Oracle filed a lawsuit against Google for allegedly infringing Java patent and its copyrights. While
two District Court-level jury trials found in favor of Google, the Federal Circuit court reversed both
decisions, asserting APIs are copyrightable and Google's use does not fall under fair use. However
Google remanded.

2012

In May 2012, Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California ruled that APIs are not subject
to copyright, favoring Google. The court further concluded As long as the specific code used to
implement a method is different, anyone is free under the Copyright Act to write his or her own code
to carry out exactly the same function or specification of any methods used in the Java API. It does
not matter that the declaration or method header lines are identical. Hence the court ruled out that
APIs cannot be copyrighted at all. Oracle appealed in the federal court and the case went on.

2014

Federal court found that APIs can be copyrighted and sent the case back to the district court to be
reassessed. It left the case with open possibility that Google might have used the Java APIs under
“fair use”. In the same year Google filed a petition asking the Supreme Court of the United States to
look into the case assess it. Supreme court declined Google’s request in 2015.

2016 – 2018

In 2016 the case came back to the district courts. On May 26, 2016, the jury found that Android does
not infringe Oracle-owned copyrights. Oracle filed another appeal.
Oracle appealed to the Federal Circuit on the adverse fair use ruling and Google cross-
appealed to preserve the claim that the Java APIs were not copyrightable. In March 2018, the
Federal Circuit reversed the district court’s decision and remanded for a trial on damages. The
Court weighed the first and fourth factor heavily in favor of Oracle, the second factor in favor of
Google, and weighed the third factor as neutral. After balancing all factors, the Court found that
Google’s use was not a fair use as a matter of law.

2019-2021

Google filed a petition with the Supreme Court of the United States in January 2019 to challenge the
two rulings that were made by the appeals court in Oracle's favor. However, the Supreme Court
postponed its March argument session on March 16 in light of concerns surrounding COVID-19.

(Wikipedia)On April 5, 2021, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Google v. Oracle, ruling 6-
2 in Google's favor on the issue of fair use.

What makes Google’s win justified even when APIs are copyrightable?

1. Minimal use
Out of the 15 million lines of the code only 11,500 were used.
2. Fair use
Google was successful in proving that its use of the code comes under doctrine of “fair use”
3. No market harm
Sun had made Java an open source code available in 2008 so anybody is free to use it.

References

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/18-956_d18f.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_LLC_v._Oracle_America,_Inc.

https://www.eff.org/cases/oracle-v-google

https://copyrightalliance.org/copyright-cases/oracle-america-v-google/

(NDTV) We strongly believe that Google developed Android by illegally copying core Java technology to
rush into the mobile device market.”

(Wikipedia)On April 5, 2021, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Google v. Oracle, ruling 6-
2 in Google's favor on the issue of fair use.