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Google vs Oracle: the struggle is real! Recent court ruling sides with Oracle, but there are far wider implications and we’ve not seen the last of this fight. he battle between Google and Oracle over whether Google used Oracle’s intellectual property when using Java to build the Android platform has added a new chapter to the sorry tale, with an appeals court recently siding with Oracle. If you’ve missed this back and forth over the past eight years, Oracle claims that Google’s Android operating system infringes on two patents that relate to its Java language, while Google maintains that it should have been able to use Java for free considering that the 11,500 lines of code that are claimed to have been copied are insignificant compared to the millions of lines of code that makes up Android. In 2012 a jury decided that Java isn’t protected under copyright law, but in 2014 an appeals court rejected that decision, suggesting that Google’s use of the API was in violation of copyright law. In 2016 a jury decided that Google’s use of Oracle’s APIs was protected by fair use, which Oracle appealed against, and which a judge has just ruled in Oracle’s favour. While this latest ruling looks like it could cost Google a lot of money, there are more worrying implications for people who aren’t too concerned about the search giant’s bank balance. Since the latest ruling, a number of people have shown their concern about what this means when it comes to using open source software when developing their own software. As CNN reports, Christopher Carani, a partner with McAndrews, Held & Malloy and a professor at Northwestern’s law school suggests that, “The
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decision is going to create a significant shift in how software is developed worldwide… It really means that copyright in this context has teeth… Sometimes free is not really free.” Google wasn’t happy with the ruling and said in a statement emailed to The Register: “We are disappointed the court reversed the jury finding that Java is open and free for everyone… This type of ruling will make apps and online services more expensive for users.” So, for developers who rely on fair use when using existing code to help write their own software, the ramifications of this change in the relationship between fair use and copyright could be severe. It’s even more troubling because it
Google’s use of Java in Android has caused an ongoing feud.
“developers may shy away from compatibility, leading to less interoperability and innovation” could impact on compatibility between platforms. In the past, many developers would attempt to make their software compatible with other existing programs and platforms, which is what Google claimed it was doing with Java. With this ruling, developers may shy away from that, leading to less interoperability and innovation, or it could even stop them creating the software at all, due to fears of a copyright lawsuit. It’s a worrying development, but as this longrunning case has constantly proved, the fight’s not over yet.
Oracle purchased Sun Microsystems in 2010, and it’s been at loggerheads with Google ever since.
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