A better description would be to say that they were re-implementing Java
APIs under fair use.
Not exact matches
But this time, instead of debating whether Google infringed on Oracle's copyright when it
used the Java
APIs in Android, the two companies are arguing over whether Google's coding falls
under fair use.
Thus, all that the jury in the case that ended in May had to decide was whether Google's
use of 37 Java
APIs in its Android mobile operating system was covered
under fair use or not.
But an appeal gave Oracle what it wanted: a ruling that
APIs can be copyrighted.Thus, all that the jury in this case had to decide was whether Google's
use of 37 Java
APIs in its Android mobile operating system was covered
under fair use or not.
Google contended that Java
APIs are free and open to the public, and the Java code in Android falls
under fair -
use since Android itself is also free and open to the public.
The issue at hand is that Google is claiming its
use of the 37
APIs falls
under «
fair use».
This year's trial focused on only one issue: does Google's
use of these specific 37
APIs fall
under fair use?
A jury found Android to be accessing Java
APIs under a «
fair use» provision in copyright law.
After the overturning of U.S. District Judge William Alsup's ruling that
APIs can't be copyrighted, Google claimed that what they had done should be considered «
fair use» and still legal
under the ruling of the appellate court.