IndustryGoogle Will Pay Oracle $0 In Damages in Android Copyright Case

Google Will Pay Oracle $0 In Damages in Android Copyright Case

Oracle wanted billions. Google offered millions. Even that $150,000 is out the window. Oracle has agreed to a grand total of nothing (that's $0 U.S.) in damages from Google in the long-running Java dispute. Judge asks: "is there a catch?"

Android and Java logosOracle wanted billions. Google offered millions. Even that $150,000 is out the window. Oracle will get a grand total of nothing (that’s $0 U.S.) in damages from Google in the long-running Java dispute. 

The agreement covers the outstanding copyright infringement claims Oracle had made against Google. The trial, which began in May, had found that Google had copied around nine lines of Oracle’s Java code when developing its Android smartphone operating system.

But the court rejected Oracle’s other claims, most notably whether Google had copied 37 of Java’s application programming interfaces. Here, the presiding judge, William Alsup, ruled that APIs were not subject to copyright protection.

Alsup is widely quoted as having asked, upon learning of the latest settlement: “Is there a catch I need to be aware of?”.

By agreeing to settle for zero damages, Oracle looks to be tying up loose ends so that it can launch an appeal against the API copyright ruling – where, had it been successful, it had stood to win most damages.

Oracle’s lead attorney Michael Jacobs told the judge he hoped to see him again after the appeal.

Aside from the matter of that appeal, the only outstanding issue in the current case is whether Google will make an application for Oracle to pay its legal costs.

This article was originally published on V3.

Resources

The 2023 B2B Superpowers Index
whitepaper | Analytics

The 2023 B2B Superpowers Index

8m
Data Analytics in Marketing
whitepaper | Analytics

Data Analytics in Marketing

10m
The Third-Party Data Deprecation Playbook
whitepaper | Digital Marketing

The Third-Party Data Deprecation Playbook

1y
Utilizing Email To Stop Fraud-eCommerce Client Fraud Case Study
whitepaper | Digital Marketing

Utilizing Email To Stop Fraud-eCommerce Client Fraud Case Study

1y