Kopec Explains Software

#44 Google v. Oracle

Apr 12, 2021

09:11

Last week the Supreme Court of the United States made a decision in the case known as Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc. The case centers on whether the use of certain Java technology in Android infringed on Oracle's copyright. In particular, it's concerned with whether Google's reimplementation of Java is legitimate in copying much of the Java standard library's APIs. The legal battle between these tech giants actually began in 2010. For 11 years, the battle has raged back in forth in lower courts over billions of dollars of potential damages. The case also has far-reaching implications for the software industry. Is it "fair use" to reimplement a copyrighted API? If it's not, many software products would be in violation.