Oracle Defends ‘Copyright-Protected’ Software Against Google, in High Court Brief

Oracle’s software packages are 'copyright-protected,' and Google’s “copying of the material” wasn't fair use, Oracle argued to the Supreme Court Wednesday, citing previous court decisions (see 1902250065). Oracle dismissed Google’s “doomsday predictions about the imminent demise of the software industry.” Oracle develops a “licensing regime to ensure compatibility,” and its computer programs help programmers write their own applications, Oracle said. It accused Google of copying thousands of lines of code and the structure of 37 software packages. Overturning long-accepted software practices will hurt innovation across the computer industry, Google Senior Vice President-Global Affairs Kent Walker emailed Thursday. "Oracle is just wrong. … We are asking the Supreme Court to hold that copyright law supports the kind of interoperability that has been critical to the astonishing progress of software development in the United States.”