Supreme Court sides with Google in long-running copyright dispute with Oracle
05 April 2021
The Supreme Court handled Google a major victory on Monday, marking an end to a bitter battle between two tech giants over the use of software and copyrights.
Driving the news: The Supreme Court ruled 6-2 Monday in favor of Google in its long-running copyright dispute with Oracle.
Why it matters: The court's decision affirms Google's argument that its use of programming language originated by Oracle, Java API, was fair use, putting an end to what many in the industry saw as a threat to software interoperability.
Background: Justices heard oral arguments in October 2020. When Google built Android, it incorporated the programming interface (API) for Java, then owned by Sun Microsystems. Oracle purchased Sun in 2010, then sued Google.
- Oracle and Google have swapped victories in lower courts; most recently, the federal appeals court ruled in Oracle's favor in 2018, prompting Google to seek Supreme Court review.
What they're saying: "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," the court's opinion states.
- "The Google platform just got bigger and market power greater. The barriers to entry higher and the ability to compete lower. They stole Java and spent a decade litigating as only a monopolist can," said Oracle spokesperson Deborah Hellinger. "This behavior is exactly why regulatory authorities around the world and in the United States are examining Google's business practices."
Go deeper:
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.