A decade-old legal battle between Silicon Valley giants
Oracle and Google over software rights moves to the Supreme Court
Wednesday, in a case with enormous implications for copyright in
the digital era.
The top court scheduled oral arguments in the case which dates
back to a lawsuit filed in 2010 by Oracle seeking billions from
Google over its use of Java programming language in its Android
mobile operating system.
Two separate jury trials ended with a determination that
Google’s “software interface” did not unfairly use Java code,
saving the internet giant from a possible multibillion-dollar
verdict.
But an appeals court in 2018 disagreed, saying the software
interface is entitled to copyright protection, prompting Google to
take the case to the highest US court.
Oracle, which in 2010 obtained the rights to Java when it
acquired Sun Microsystems — which had supported Google’s use of
Java for Android — sought $9 billion in damages in its original
complaint.
Google and many Silicon Valley allies have argued that extending
copyright protection to bits of code, called application
programming interfaces, or APIs, would threaten innovation in the
fast-evolving digital world.
According to Google, a win for Oracle would “upend the
longstanding expectation of software developers that they are free
to use existing computer software interfaces to build new
programs.”
The Developers Alliance, a nonprofit group which includes app
makers and other tech firms, filed a supporting brief making a
similar argument, arguing that “without shared APIs, every device
and program is an island, and modern software development simply
cannot happen.”
– The monopoly question – The American Antitrust Institute
argued in an amicus brief that allowing Oracle to maintain
copyright protection “may slow innovation and competition in
software-dependent markets,” and “may cement software-based
monopolies.”
The hearing comes amid heightened scrutiny of large technology
firms and with Google having seen its fortunes and dominance grow
in the online world.
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The political overtones are also apparent in light of Oracle
founder Larry Ellison’s close ties to US President Donald Trump and
Google facing an antitrust investigation.
The US government filed a brief supporting Oracle, arguing that
copyright cannot be taken away from creators simply because it
exists in digital format.
Google “copied 11,500 lines of (Oracle’s) copyrighted code” as
well as the “complex architecture of the 37 packages at issue,” a
Justice Department brief said.
The Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank, said in a court
filing that allowing Google to walk away with “intellectual
property theft” would make it hard to protect any digital property
from Chinese misappropriation.
Also siding with Oracle, the American Association of Publishers
argued that weakening copyright protection would make it more
difficult “to create and disseminate original works of
authorship.”
The two companies will argue on the question of “fair use” of
copyrighted material for a “transformative” purpose. This standard
which allows someone to create a completely new work does not
require permission or licensing from the original author.
Google has argued that a jury already determined its actions
represented fair use and that the courts should honor that decision
without prolonging the litigation.
Oracle, in its latest brief, claimed that fair use “hinges on
legal judgments that balance competing interests” of the
parties.
A decision by the court, which is hearing the case remotely with
eight instead of nine justices following the death of Ruth Bader
Ginsburg, is likely to make a decision in several weeks or
months.
A clear ruling for Google could end the marathon legal battle,
while a decision for Oracle could send the case back to lower
courts — and a potential retrial.
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