The Trial of the Century - Can GOOGLE own API's

[Mustang65]

The API future depends on the Supreme Courts decision. March 24 is when they are scheduled to hear the case of Google vs Oracle. It will be interesting if GOOGLE can claim that API's (copyright) belongs to them. Will the 9 Non-techies on the Supreme Court get it right?

Google vs Oracle

 

[Teken]

The API future depends on the Supreme Courts decision. March 24 is when they are scheduled to hear the case of Google vs Oracle. It will be interesting if GOOGLE can claim that API's (copyright) belongs to them. Will the 9 Non-techies on the Supreme Court get it right?

Google vs Oracle

 

 

I’m kind of on the fence on this as I don’t hold either company in high regard. I guess without knowing all the facts I’m just blowing hot air too.

 

But the questions I have are these along with comments. Everyday companies around the world release the API to X product or Y service. This to me is clear cut you offered them and pushed them into the public domain - fair use applies.

 

Now, if some real smart guy reverse engineers that product / service by using packet logging. That on the service is not fair use because the company never intended anyone to do so. Then said person begins to use this unauthorized access and in the same vain shares the same with Joe Public.

 

Then we have others who scrapped web pages to glean the very same in hopes of seeing the method of how something works.

 

I guess it really comes down for me at least (Joe Public) did this reverse engineering happen for personal gain and profit?? Did someone else get harmed in terms of revenue?

 

If the only outcome was more adoption which directly means increased sales & revenue. Where’s the direct harm besides you never wanted the API / information to be released.

 

Keep in mind both of these companies are evil and live by the mantra: Profit before people.

 

 

 

 

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[giesen]

The API future depends on the Supreme Courts decision. March 24 is when they are scheduled to hear the case of Google vs Oracle. It will be interesting if GOOGLE can claim that API's (copyright) belongs to them. Will the 9 Non-techies on the Supreme Court get it right?Google vs Oracle

 

 

Uh, that's completely wrong. The issue at trial was whether APIs are copyrightable (and if they are, is using them considered fair use), and the APIs at issue are Oracle's APIs for Java, not Google's.  

Google implemented it's own version of Java (called Dalvik) which was compatible with the Java API (this is a simplified explanation, but will suit for our purposes). This bypassed the need for Google to licence Java for every Android device out there.

 

It's been a long-held convention in the software world that APIs are not subject to copyright (they're akin to chapter titles in a book), and that as long as no patents are violated in the process, a clean-room implementation would not be subject to copyright (this forms the basis of reverse-engineering). Copyright protection of APIs (without at least a fair use exclusion) would be a huge upset for the software industry, and would break the ability to create alternative implementations, and the ability to integrate software.

 

Unfortunately Oracle got a court to agree with its claims, but the question is important enough to the technology industry that the SCOTUS agreed to hear the case.

 

Google is not the bad actor here, Oracle is, by breaking with decades of convention and claiming copyright over the APIs. What's worse is they never created the technology in the first place (which came via the Sun acquisition), and presumably the creators of Java never would have agreed with these actions.

 

Wikipedia has a pretty good summary here if you want to learn more.

 

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