Oracle Defeated in Android Code Copyright Battle

Software giant, Oracle has lost a six-year court case to Google, which claimed Google had infringed its copyright by using 11,500 lines of Java code in its Android operating system.

Oracle had contested that Google’s use of its proprietary Java code exceeded fair use, and was seeking damages of up to $9bn(N1.8tri). The jury ruled that Google’s use of 37 Java APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) was fair use. The news will be welcomed by developers, who typically rely on free access to APIs to develop third-party services.

In his order, Judge Allsup – who described the action as “the first of the so-called ‘smartphone war’ cases” – dismissed Oracle’s case, saying that “the particular elements replicated by Google were free for all to use under the Copyright Act.”

I salute you for your extreme hard work in this case. I know there will be appeals and the like, US District Judge, William Alsup told the jury, who had deliberated on the case.