J.R.McHale

**Update:** [Supreme Court Declines to Hear Appeal in Google-Oracle Copyright Fight](http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/06/29/supreme-court-declines-to-hear-appeal-in-google-oracle-copyright-fight/?_r=5) – New York Times:

> “Monday’s Supreme Court decision, which was specific to this appeal, means the Oracle-Google saga will now move back to the lower courts to determine another aspect of the case: Even though Google was using copyrighted software, was it only making ‘fair use’ of it . . . ‘You shouldn’t let the owner of an A.P.I. end up owning the other person’s program,’ said Michael Barclay, special counsel to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a tech nonprofit devoted to civil liberties. ‘I don’t think we’ll find out how bad a day this is for a long time.'”

**Previously – Solicitor General Brief Argued APIs are Copyrightable:**

Considering whether to grant certiorari in the Google v. Oracle America case, the Supreme Court earlier in 2015 asked the government to weigh in on the dispute. In response, the Solicitor General filed its brief, surprisingly taking the position that APIs **are** subject to copyright protection.

The Solicitor General’s Brief for the United States as Amicus Curiae ([pdf](https://www.eff.org/files/2015/06/05/14-410_google_v_oracle_us_cvsg_brief.pdf); 23 pages)

> **News Reaction to Solicitor General Brief**:

> [Let Oracle Own APIs, Justice Department Tells Top Court in Surprise Filing](http://fortune.com/2015/05/26/google-oracle-api-supremecourt-obama-appeal/) – Fortune

> [White House Sides with Oracle, tells Supreme Court APIs are Copyrightable;
Unlicensed Use of APIs Might be a Fair Use, US says](http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/05/white-house-sides-with-oracle-tells-supreme-court-apis-are-copyrightable/) – ArsTechnica

> [Marc Andreesen](https://twitter.com/pmarca) tweet: “Obama Administration to software programmers: Drop dead!”

> [The Solicitor General’s Peculiar Brief in Google v. Oracle](http://www.project-disco.org/intellectual-property/060115-the-solicitor-generals-peculiar-brief-in-google-v-oracle/) – Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), Disruptive Competition Project

> [Google Versus Oracle Case Exposes Differences within Obama Administration](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/15/us-google-oracle-lawsuit-insight-idUSKBN0O017Z20150515) – Reuters

> [How Oracle Versus Google Could Ruin Software Development](http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2015/06/how-oracle-versus-google-could-ruin-software-development/) – Lifehacker

**Background:**

> [Oracle America v. Google – Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_America,_Inc._v._Google,_Inc.)

> [List and Links to Rulings and Related Filings](https://www.eff.org/cases/oracle-v-google) (under the Tab “Documents” following the brief article) – EFF

> See, in particular, the November 2014 “Brief of Amici Curiae Computer Scientists in Support of Petitioner” ([pdf](https://www.eff.org/files/2014/11/07/google_v_oracle_computer-scientists-certpetition-amicus-brief_14-410_final.pdf); 27 pages, excluding list of amici and tables of content and cited authorities)

**Appeals Court Ruling (May 2014)** – Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

> The Appeals Court [Decision](https://scholar.google.ca/scholar_case?q=google+oracle+may+9,+2014&hl=en&as_sdt=2003&case=15197092051369647665&scilh=0)

> Reaction (at that time): [Tech World Stunned as Court Rules Oracle Can Own APIs; Google Loses Copyright Appeal](https://gigaom.com/2014/05/09/tech-world-stunned-as-court-rules-oracle-can-own-apis-google-loses-copyright-appeal/) – GigaOm

**Original Trial and Decision (May 2012)** – U.S. District Court, Northern District of California

> The Original Copyright Related Rulings: “Order re: copyright ability of certain replicated elements of the JAVA application programming interface” [(pdf](http://www.groklaw.net/pdf3/OraGoogle-1202.pdf); 41 pages) and “Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law on Equitable Defenses” [(pdf](http://www.groklaw.net/pdf3/OraGoogle-1203.pdf); 3 pages)

> News Article Summing Up the Patent Portion of the Case: [Jury Clears Google of Infringing on Oracle Patents](http://www.zdnet.com/article/jury-clears-google-of-infringing-on-oracle-patents/) – ZDNet

> Reaction (at that time): [Google Wins Crucial API Ruling, Oracle’s Case Decimated; Java API Packages ‘free for all to use under the Copyright Act’](http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/05/google-wins-crucial-api-ruling-oracles-case-decimated/) – ArsTechnica