A jury in California’s Northern District federal court declared that Google’s use of copyright-protected code in Android was fair use, freeing it of any liability. Oracle, which controls the copyright on the code, had been seeking $9 billion for the use of the code.
The case centers around an API developed by Java and owned by Oracle, which allows outside programs to easily interact with Java programs. Android uses the same API, and in 2014 a federal appeals court ruled that Oracle has a valid copyright claim on the API code, potentially putting Google on the hook for billions of dollars in damages. (The Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal.) In the latest round, Google argued that Android’s reimplementation of the API constituted fair use, which would allow use of the code without invalidating Oracle’s copyright. Ultimately, the jury found that case convincing.
Source: http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/26/11754002/oracle-google-verdict-copyright-infringement-ruling-api-fair-use
Submitted by: Arnfried Walbrecht
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