Can API be copyrighted? At least Oracle hopes so

Summary

The ongoing Oracle vs. Google lawsuit highlights a critical debate over API copyrightability, with a court finding that specific Java APIs used in Android might infringe intellectual property rights. This case is significant not only for Oracle's $1 billion claim but also for the potential precedent that public APIs, distinct from the programming language itself, could be copyrighted. Should Oracle prevail, it would empower companies to seek substantial compensation for unauthorized API use, moving beyond simple app store removals. Such a ruling would introduce considerable legal risks and increased development costs for engineers, necessitating extensive checks on API usage rights and potentially stifling innovation across the industry.

 

The result of the lawsuit case war between Oracle and Google is clearer now. The court said that 9 lines of code of Android has violated intellectual property right, these 9 lines of code can be ignored relative to the number of codes for the whole Android system. But just like LinuxToy points out that the reasons why this case catches so much attention are : 1). The amount of money Oracle asked from Google is $1 billion; 2). The statement says Java language itself doesn't violate the intellectual property rights, but the used public API did.

If Oracle wins the case, it means that API can be copyrighted. For example, Apple prohibits developers call private APIs, but generally, Apple will not care about it too much. Even if sometimes they find those apps, the worst case is to remove those apps from app store. However, assume if Apple can apply copyright for its private APIs, then they have right to ask for compensation for losses. Then some companies like Microsoft and Apple which are experts on patent lawsuit case, developers will have no much chance to win in this kind of lawsuit case. It is also not good news for developers since when developers are going to develop some apps, they need first check whether they can use the API or not. This will increase both cost and risk of developers.

What will happen next? Let's just be patient and wait.

Original author : 杨鹏飞 Source : http://mobile.csdn.net/a/20120511/2805516.html

GOOGLE API ORACLE COPYRIGHT LAWSUIT CASE

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