The dispute between the two companies occurred when Google used some Java programming to create Android, which has become one of the world’s leading mobile software.
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A California jury ruled in favor of Google in a long legal battle with Oracle over software code used in Android. However, this will have a ripple effect on the entire technological industry and change the future of software programming.
Oracle bought Sun in 2010 and sued Google later that year.
The high-profile dispute was a clash of Silicon Valley titans. “We believe there are numerous grounds for appeal”, Oracle’s general counsel Dorian Daley said in an emailed statement.
The Java APIs were open-source, free to use for anyone. Google did try to arrive at a deal with Sun to use the APIs, but those deals fell apart and Google chose to use the APIs anyway.
In turn, though, Google had argued that its use of Java APIs amounted to “fair use” and that APIs were not, therefore, subject to copyright – indeed, that they never have been subject to copyright as software vendors need access to APIs in order to achieve interoperability between software products.
Had Oracle won, the trial would have immediately moved on to another phase with this same jury to determine damages. A federal appeals court disagreed in 2014, ruling that computer language that connects programs – known as application programming interfaces, or APIs – can be copyrighted. That decision was overturned in part on appeal.
The jury conveyed that findings suggest that Google has been fair with it’s usage of Java APIs and hence does not require a license for using the code. The verdict today was based on a retrial of the copyright claim in the wake of the appellate court ruling. “There is a real cost to defending fair use”, EFF director of copyright activism Parker Higgins wrote earlier this month when discussing the matter.
Oracle, on the other hand, claimed that Google stole its property, using it to enrich itself to the tune of tens of billions of dollars.
Oracle aimed to collect almost $9 billion in damages and possible royalties down the line from Alphabet (GOOGL), Google’s parent.
Mueller also said that while Google was allowed to present all of the “evidence” and testimony, Oracle had been precluded from presenting the entirety of its evidence.
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US District Judge William Alsup, who has overseen the litigation since 2010 said the jury had did a great job and he “would like to come in the jury room and shake each of your hands individually”.
