Google did not infringe software company copyright Oracle when it used code from the Java programming language for the Android mobile operating system. This is what the US Supreme Court ruled, overturning the decision of a lower court. Google is supposed to avoid damages of up to several billion dollars due to the ruling. Oracle gambled $ 9 billion.
The case between Google and Oracle has been sprawling for years and ended up in the Supreme Court last year. According to the judges, there was a decision 6-2, Google used the so-called “fair use”. Judge Stephen Breyer, who wrote the ruling on behalf of the majority, said Google “only uses the code it needs so that users can use their collective talents to work on a new program.”
Both Oracle and Google previously claimed that each other’s stance would limit innovation. Google said that very strict copyright rules would discourage the development of new programs based on old products. In contrast, Oracle believed that companies would not spend large sums of money developing new products if they were not protected by strong copyright laws.
So Oracle was not satisfied with the Supreme Court’s decision. “They have stolen Java and have taken legal action for ten years the way only a monopolist can do it. This kind of behavior is the subject of Google’s practices in many countries around the world, including the United States.” Oracle believes the ruling means that “Google’s platform and the company’s market power have grown. Barriers to entry are higher and opportunities to compete diminished.”
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