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ARTICLE · 12 APRIL 2021

US Supreme Court Weighs In On Copyright Fair Use Provision For Computer Code

Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney
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A10-year court saga has come to an end with the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc. In a 6-2 decision, the Supreme Court has ruled that Google's use of Oracle's...

United StatesIntellectual Property
David A. Gurwin
David A. Gurwin
Craig G. Cochenour
Craig G. Cochenour
Sean M. Douglass
Sean M. Douglass
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A10-year court saga has come to an end with the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc. In a 6-2 decision, the Supreme Court has ruled that Google's use of Oracle's software code in developing the Android operating system constituted a fair use under §107 of the Copyright Act.

In 2005, Google acquired Android, Inc. to develop a software platform for mobile devices including smartphones. Shortly after acquiring Android, Google began talks with Oracle to license the entire Java platform for use in its new smartphone technology. However, negotiations between Google and Oracle broke down. Google proceeded to develop the Android OS using code from Oracle's Java SE program without a license. In creating the Android platform, Google copied approximately 11,500 lines of a total of 2.86 million lines of application programming interface (API) code from Oracle's Java SE program.

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