Google's copying of Oracle API code did not violate federal copyright laws says US Supreme Court

The US Supreme Court on Monday handed a major victory to Alphabet's Google in a decade-long battle over its use of Oracles' Java application programming interface (API) code in building the Android operating system.

In a 6-2 ruling [pdf], the court concluded that the search giant's copying of roughly 11,500 lines of Java code did not violate federal copyright laws as the amount of copied code was relatively minuscule.

The court said that Oracle cannot claim copyright over these APIs, which enable different applications to communicate with one another.

Justice Stephen Breyer wrote in his ruling, that "to allow enforcement of Oracle's copyright here would risk harm to the public".

"We reach the conclusion that in this case, where Google reimplemented a user interface, taking only what was needed to allow users to put their accrued talents to work in a new and transformative programme, Google's copying of the Sun Java API was a fair use of that material as a matter of law."

Breyer was joined by Justices Neil Gorsuch, John Roberts, Sonia Sotomayor, Brett Kavanaugh and Elena Kagan in the decision.

Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented.

The high-stakes IP battle has been ongoing since 2010, when Oracle sued Google over its unlicensed use of Java APIs in Android OS, saying it owed nearly $8.8 billion for its use of the code.

When Google purchased the Linux mobile OS start-up Android in 2005, the start-up had been using Java's class library APIs in its mobile OS. The first phone based on Android OS was launched by Google in 2008.

Google has always rejected Oracle's accusations, arguing that its use of the software was covered by the American copyright doctrine of fair use.

The company said it "reused only the material that was required by the Java language to perform the function of responding to the developers' calls," which was permissible under the "merger doctrine".

In 2016, a jury ruled in favour of Google, concluding that Google's use of Java APIs was fair. However, the decision was overturned in 2018 by a Federal Appeals Court.

Last year, Google requested the US Supreme Court to overturn the Federal Circuit judgement, warning that the entire concept of software APIs would come under threat if the Court rules in favour of Oracle. The company argued that it used some parts of Oracle's Java APIs in Android to enable the OS to communicate more easily with other programmes.

Google welcomed Monday's ruling, describing it as a victory for "consumers, interoperability and computer science".

"Thanks to the country's leading innovators, software engineers and copyright scholars for their support," said Ken Walker, Google's senior vice president for global affairs.

Oracle said that it disagreed with the court's decision, which would increase Google's market power further and would damage other companies' ability to compete. It repeated the earlier accusation that Google had stolen its Java code.

"The Google platform just got bigger and market power greater—the barriers to entry higher and the ability to compete lower," Dorian Daley, executive vice president and general counsel at Oracle, said.

"They stole Java and spent a decade litigating as only a monopolist can. This behaviour is exactly why regulatory authorities around the world and in the United States are examining Google's business practices."