Oracle has lost its lawsuit against Google, after a jury declared Android's use of 37 APIs for Java were considered "fair use." Following after three days of deliberation by jurors, the two-week trial ends in failure for Oracle, which was hoping to collect as much as
$9 billion from the search giant over the potential API copyright infringement if the jury sided with the company, though there is still the chance Oracle will appeal the decision.
During the trial itself, Oracle claimed Google copied thousands of lines of code, including aspects of 37 Java API packages owned by Sun Microsystems, acquired by Oracle in 2010. The case itself dates back to
2012, with a jury initially siding with Oracle before the trial judge
overturned the decision and declared APIs were not copyrightable. An appeals court
later overturned the judge's copyright ruling, forcing Google to this time argue that it was covered as "fair use" under copyright law.
Ars Technica reports there was only one single question on the verdict form, asking if Google has "shown by a preponderance of the evidence that its use in Android of the declaring lines of code and their structure, sequence, and organization" constitutes fair use, with the jury unanimously agreeing. If the jury had gone the other way, the judge would then ask the jury to decide how much would be due in the "damages phase."
Both companies have issued statements over the result. Google proclaimed the victory as representing "a win for the Android ecosystem, for the Java programming community, and for software developers who rely on open and free programming languages to build innovative consumer products." Google lawyer Robert Van Nest added at the trial "We're grateful for the jury's verdict."
As expected, Oracle intends to fight the ruling. "We strongly believe that Google developed Android by illegally copying core Java technology to rush into the mobile device market. Oracle brought this lawsuit to put a stop to Google's illegal behavior. We believe there are numerous grounds for appeal and we plan to bring this case back to the Federal Circuit on appeal."
While APIs are still protected by copyright, today's ruling is likely to be of benefit to developers who use APIs in their work. The ruling proves that it is possible for developers to defend themselves from legal issues when using APIs, so long as they can convince a jury it is fair use.
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