By Kyra Kozin ‘22

On November 15, 2019, the Supreme Court accepted to hear the case of Oracle v. Google in the coming months. This is the final step in a long legal battle between Oracle and Google dating back to 2010 over whether or not APIs can be copyrighted. In this case, Oracle alleged that Google’s android smartphone system infringed on the copyright of Oracle’s Java system that they owned due to their acquisition of Sun Microsystems. Oracle owns the source code for Java, and they made it freely available for developer’s use, but if a developer wanted to implement it into platforms like how Google used it, Oracle sold licenses. Google did not buy a license, and just used it, because they believed that their use of the code was under fair use. Oracle argued that Google infringed on their copyright by copying more than 11,000 lines of Java API code to create their own android smartphone system. APIs, or application programming interfaces, are programming functions that allow applications or programs to access the data and features of other services, so that websites and apps can communicate with each other. Oracle argued that Google’s plagiarism of this code infringes on copyright because they used it to make a competing system, so they sued Google for 9 billion dollars because of the commercial success Google has had with its android system.

While Oracle believes that their Java program was innovative code, Google argues that its use of the code is under fair use. Google believes that Oracle, or any company, shouldn’t be allowed to copyright basic software commands like APIs, and argues that there’s a current expectation that software developers are free to use pieces of existing software to create new programs. They argue that to copyright APIs is to limit innovation which is a detriment to all of society.

This case has already been to trial many times. In 2012, a judge ruled that Oracle’s Java patents couldn’t be copyrighted, and that Google didn’t infringe on their copyright. Then, after Oracle appealed, in 2014 there was a ruling in Oracle’s favor saying that the patents could be copyrighted. After another appeal, a jury trial in 2016 ruled in Google’s favor, but then Oracle appealed to the Federal Appeals Courts, and in 2018 the Appeals Courts ruled in favor of Oracle stating that using APIs wasn’t fair use, which led Google to appeal to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is hearing this case against the advice of the Justice Department, who argued that there isn’t a need for Supreme Court intervention after the Federal Appeals court ruled in favor of Oracle in 2018. The Supreme Court is likely hearing this case anyways because of the constant reversal of the case which calls for a need for a precedent to be set. The Supreme Court agreeing to hear this case is important to the industry because it will create a precedent for how software developers will use APIs in the future. The outcome of this long-winded case will have wide, multi-billion dollar ramifications for the software industry.

In the next few years, this case has the ability to change how software is innovated. Currently, developers of new applications use APIs to create new products, and the most recent ruling in 2018 gives the power to the leading software makers but it hampers upstarts ability to innovate and develop new applications. Many software companies believe that ruling in Oracle’s favor, which would be to limit fair use of code, would threaten innovation in software production that is a highly collaborative process. If the Supreme Court ruled in Google’s favor, developers would continue to work how they do currently, and the highly collaborative process of developing code would be preserved. It is difficult to predict which side the Supreme Court will back, though, because the case has been reversed so many times.