[Infowarrior] - Google victory over Oracle in Android copyright case

[Richard Forno]

Jury sides with Alphabet's Google in copyright lawsuit against Oracle

CNBC

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/26/jury-rules-for-google-on-fair-use-in-oracle-fight.html

A U.S. jury handed Alphabet's Google a major victory on Thursday in a long-running copyright lawsuit against Oracle, saying the law allowed Google's use of Oracle's software to create its Android smartphone operating system.

Shares of Oracle were down about 1 percent after hours. Alphabet stock was up slightly after the announcement.

The jury unanimously upheld claims by Google that its use of Oracle's Java development platform was protected under the fair-use provision of copyright law, bringing trial to a close without Oracle winning any damages.

After the ruling, Dorian Daley, general counsel for Oracle said that "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," Daley said.
On the heels of the announcement, Google said: "Today's verdict that Android makes fair use of Java APIs represents 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."

In a retrial at U.S. District Court in San Francisco, Oracle claimed Google's Android operating system violated its copyright on parts of Java, a development platform. Alphabet's Google unit said it should be able to use Java without paying a fee under fair use.

A trial in 2012 ended in a deadlocked jury.

The trial was closely watched by software developers, who feared an Oracle victory could spur more software copyright lawsuits. However, investors saw little risk for Google.

— CNBC.com contributed to this report.

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