From CNET: The US Supreme Court has ruled for Google in the battle between the search giant and Oracle over the architecture of Google's Android operating system. In a 6-2 decision published Monday and written by Justice Stephen Breyer, the court ruled that "Google's copying of the Java SE API, which included only those lines of code that were needed to allow programmers to put their accrued talents to work in a new and transformative program, was a fair use of that material as a matter of law."
At issue was Oracle's claim that Google copied about 11,500 lines of Java code from Sun Microsystems in creating its popular Android OS. Oracle acquired Sun in 2010, with the company later suing Google for almost $9 billion in damages over illegally using that software.
Google claimed that its use of the software was allowed as "fair use," with the company winning the first major legal battle in this case in 2016 only to have an appeals court overturn the decision two years later. After Google's repeated petitioning, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case last year.
"Today's Supreme Court decision in Google v. Oracle is a big win for innovation, interoperability & computing," Kent Walker, Google's senior vice president of global affairs, said on Twitter following the news. "Thanks to the country's leading innovators, software engineers & copyright scholars for their support."
View: Full Article
