Google wins legal fight with Oracle, thanks to “fair use” clause

For those who don’t really know, do you know that Google was sued by Oracle for using Java API’s in Android programs?

Well, Oracle has appealed to the court, Oracle appealed to the court, claiming that Google has made an unfair use of Java API’s while they are developing Android OS. Though, today’s judgment has been declared in favor of Google. The panel said that Google’s “re-implementation of the 37 Java API’s comes under “fair usage”.

To shorten everything, the panel accepted Google’s point of view saying that Android’s applications of Java were the jury accepted Google’s viewpoint that Android’s application of Java was integrated based on the fair use clause. It is also a great news for the developers too. The judgment does not only saved Google from bombing out million dollars in the form clearance but it also allowed its developers out there from the danger in using open API’s for their individual app development.

There are a good number of chances that Oracle might still appeal to the high court. This means that the issue is not yet closed. In case of any re-appeal, we might witness another week of a long court-room battle involving Google & Oracle

Oracle might go for re-appeal

Hinting on the re-appeal, the Oracle’s lawyer said,“We strongly believe that Google developed Android by illegally copying core Java technology to rush into the mobile device market. We brought this lawsuit to put a stop to Google’s illegal behavior. We believe there are numerous grounds for appeal and we plan to bring this case back to the Federal Circuit on appeal,”

Pushing in more, the judgment is a good news for its users as well. If the judge would have been the other way round, then if so a lot of the software programs we use today would have gone under the scanner of lawsuits in regard of the re-using of codes since the 70’s. Also, a judgment in favor of Oracle might have given a clear idea to other related companies for attaining more out of their Java API’s.

Source