Google Enlists Computer Scientists to Oppose Oracle Java API Appeal

Posted by : Games Saturday, June 1, 2013

Several prominent computer scientists have joined Google in its battle to thwart Oracle's appeal of a federal judge's ruling that the Java APIs Google used to create Android are not copyrightable. In an amicus brief filed with the court May 30, a group of 32 computer scientists urged an appeals court today to block the copyright claims over the APIs in the Oracle vs. Google court battle, arguing that APIs that are open are critical to innovation and interoperability in computers and computer systems.Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)represents the group of computer scientists—including individuals such as MS-DOS author Tim Paterson and ARPANET developer Larry Roberts—in the amicus brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The group urges the court to uphold a decision from U.S. District Judge William Alsup finding that APIs are not copyrightable. They argue that Oracle is attempting to overextend copyright coverage in its case against Google, citing the claim as irreconcilable with the purpose of copyright law and the nature of computer science. "The law is already clear that computer languages are mediums of communication and aren't copyrightable," Julie Samuels, EFF staff attorney, said in a statement. "Even though copyright might cover what was creatively written in the language, it doesn't cover functions that must all be written in the same way. APIs are similarly functional—they are specifications allowing programs to communicate with each other. As Judge Alsup found, under the law APIs are simply not copyrightable material."