Google said in its defence that APIs can’t be copyrighted, and that an Oracle victory would obstruct “an enormous amount of innovation” because software developers would not be able to freely build on each other’s work. SCOTUS had reached out to the Obama administration asking for its counsel on whether or not to hear the case, and Solicitor General Donald Verrilli issued a brief urging the court to decline.
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Google past year asked the Supreme Court to wade into its billion-dollar legal feud with Oracle, which has been unfolding in San Francisco federal court since 2010.
Oracle wants more than $1 billion in damages for 37 API which going to show you how much of a mess the industry is going to be in.
Google has argued that allowing the copyright protection over APIs will greatly hinder software development across the industry.
Google has long claimed that APIs are not copyrightable and that “open and interoperable computer languages form an essential basis for software development”.
Now, all eyes are on the decision of the Federal Court. The operating system relies heavily on Java as its apps programmed in that language run in a virtual machine on Android phones and tablets. It said Google should have paid for a licence or written all of its own code separately.
The case examined whether application programing interfaces, which connect programs, can be copyrighted.
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In May of 2012, a Northern California district court jury agreed with Google on nearly all counts, but deadlocked over whether the APIs were covered by fair use law. With the Supreme Court refusing to hear Google’s case, the company will turn its attention to a lower court, which will decide on the fair use defense.
