Copyright Fair Use for Software APIs - In Light of Oracle v. Google

Presented by: Jeffrey Kaufman, Open Source IP Counsel at Red Hat, Inc. and Adjunct Professor of Law at Thomas Jefferson School of Law.

The current state of litigation between Oracle and Google provides a fascinating perspective on copyright fair use in the context of software APIs. This exciting 45 minute presentation will put the audience in the jury box to obtain an important and unique perspective on why the trial returned a unanimous verdict in favor of Google, essentially concluding that the copyright fair use doctrine allowed Google to use JAVA SE APIs in its implementation of Android. The presentation will conclude with a group discussion on potential impacts to the open source community. A brief background on the case will also be provided.

This presentation is targeted towards software programmers, product managers, and program managers involved in software development and policy making. Anyone writing or using APIs would find this talk of interest.

After attending this talk, the audience will have i) a clear understanding of the history and current state of the Oracle v. Google litigation, ii) clarification on why APIs may still be subject to copyright protection, and iii) when API use may be a ‘fair use’ under the law as a result of this litigation.

• Video