Skip to main content
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Home
Omaha Daily Record
  • Login
  • Home
  • Subscribe
  • Calendar
    • Real Estate
    • Small Business
    • Non-Profit
    • Political
    • Legal
  • Podcasts
    • Real Estate
    • Small Business
    • Non-Profit
    • Political
    • Legal
  • Profiles
    • Real Estate
    • Small Business
    • Non-Profit
    • Political
    • Legal
  • E-Edition
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
  • Real Estate News
    • Market Trends
  • Business News
  • Non-Profit News
  • Political News
  • Legal News
  • Editorial
    • Empower You
    • The Serial Entrepreneur
    • Tom Becka
  • Other News
  • Public Records
    • Wreck Permits
    • Building Permits
    • Electrical Permits
    • Mechanical Permits
    • Plumbing Permits
  • Real Estate Leads
    • Notice of Default
    • Active Property Sales
    • Active Probates
    • Deeds
  • Public Notices
    • State of Nebraska
    • City of Bennington
    • City of Gretna
    • City of Valley
    • Douglas County West Community Schools
    • Gretna Public Schools
    • Omaha Airport Authority
    • Omaha Housing Authority
    • Plattsmouth Community Schools
    • City of Omaha
    • Douglas County
      • Tax Delinqueny 2025
    • City/County Notice of Bids
    • City of Ralston
    • Omaha Public Schools
    • Millard Public Schools
    • Ralston Public Schools
    • Westside Community Schools
    • Bennington Public Schools
    • Learning Community
    • MAPA
    • MECA
    • Omaha Airport Authority
    • Village of Boys Town
    • Village of Waterloo
    • Sarpy County
      • Tax Delinquency 2025
    • City of Bellevue
  • Advertise
    • Place a Legal Notice
    • Place a Print Ad
    • Place a Classified Ad
    • Place an Online Ad
    • Place Sponsored Content
  • Available For Hire
    • Real Estate
      • Contractors
      • Clerical
    • Legal
      • Paralegal
      • Clerical
  • About
    • Our History
    • Our Office
    • Our Staff
    • Contact Us

You are here

Home » Supreme Court Sides With Google in Oracle Copyright Fight

Supreme Court Sides With Google in Oracle Copyright Fight

Published by Nikki Palmer on Wed, 04/07/2021 - 4:00am

The Supreme Court building is shown Oct. 5, 2020, in Washington. (AP)
By 
Jessica Gresko
The Associated Press

The Supreme Court sided Monday with Google in an $8 billion copyright dispute with Oracle over the internet company’s creation of the Android operating system used on most smartphones worldwide.

To create Android, which was released in 2007, Google wrote millions of lines of new computer code. But it also used 11,330 lines of code and an organization that’s part of Oracle’s Java platform.

Google had argued that what it did is long-settled, common practice in the industry, a practice that has been good for technical progress. And it said there is no copyright protection for the purely functional, noncreative computer code it used, something that couldn’t be written another way. But Austin, Texas-based Oracle said Google “committed an egregious act of plagiarism,” and it sued.

The justices ruled 6-2 for Google Inc., based in Mountain View, California. Two conservative justices dissented.

Justice Stephen Breyer wrote that in reviewing a lower court’s decision, the justices assumed “for argument’s sake, that the material was copyrightable.”

“But we hold that the copying here at issue nonetheless constituted a fair use. Hence, Google’s copying did not violate the copyright law,” he wrote.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in a dissent joined by Justice Samuel Alito that he believed “Oracle’s code at issue here is copyrightable, and Google’s use of that copyrighted code was anything but fair.”

Only eight justices heard the case because it was argued in October, after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg but before Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the court.

In a statement, Google’s chief legal officer, Kent Walker, called the ruling a “victory for consumers, interoperability, and computer science.” “The decision gives legal certainty to the next generation of developers whose new products and services will benefit consumers,” Walker wrote.

Oracle’s chief legal officer, Dorian Daley, condemned the outcome. “The Google platform just got bigger and market power greater. The barriers to entry higher and the ability to compete lower. They stole Java and spent a decade litigating as only a monopolist can,” she wrote in a statement.

Microsoft, IBM and major internet and tech industry lobbying groups had weighed in on the case in favor of Google. The Motion Picture Association and the Recording Industry Association of America were among those supporting Oracle. The case is Google LLC v. Oracle America Inc., 18-956.

User login

  • Request new password

            

Latest Podcasts

  • Real Estate
  • Political
  • Political
  • Real Estate

Nebraska Landlord

Betches Sup - A Liberal News Commentary

Ruthless - A Conservative News Commentary

REIA Radio Show

Omaha Daily Record

The Daily Record
222 South 72nd Street, Suite 302
Omaha, Nebraska
68114
United States

Tele (402) 345-1303
Fax (402) 345-2351
 

The Daily Record
222 South 72nd Street, Suite 302 | Omaha, Nebraska 68114 | United States | Tele (402) 345-1303 | Fax (402) 345-2351 | Sitemap
Site Design, Programming & Development by Surf New Media