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Supreme Court Finds Google’s Copying of Oracle’s APIs a Fair Use

53 points by sim_card_map 5y ago

loudtieblahblah 5y ago
i just like two dystopian craphole companies tying up each other's money in the courtroom. i hope it continues.
- DamnYuppie 5y ago
  Accept this means anyone can copy anyone else's API. This will lead to the dystopian craphole companies of today becoming more dystopian and even crappier tomorrow as they trample over any small and successful entity.
  - VBprogrammer 5y ago
    Being able to copy an API is a feature, not a bug. For the same reason that if you buy a crankset for a bike you should be able to get one that fits.
g051051 5y ago
Finally. It's absurd that it took the Supreme Court to settle this.
- A4ET8a8uTh0 5y ago
  Agreed, but I think a lot of us sighed a sigh of relief.
- AndrewDucker 5y ago
  When you've got two massive companies and potentially billions of dollars resting on a case then it will keep going up until there is no more up to go to.
VonGuard 5y ago
Let's hope this is the end. This law suit was a nuclear weapon that could have destroyed the entire API economy. Oracle was irresponsible bringing this suit.
- jsiepkes 5y ago
  I get what your saying but maybe in a weird way we should Oracle be thankful that this is now cleared up in a definitive way. Smaller companies who do not have the resources to fight such a thing can now refer to this case without having to fight this long battle.
  - VonGuard 5y ago
    I suppose so, but I don't think this was something that needed to be decided in court. 100% of software engineers had decided this was fair use already, and built the world on top of this principle. Oracle wasn't even testing the load strength of the bridge, they were just being Oracle: sue instead of innovate.
  - moomin 5y ago
    The problem is, you can tie someone up a long time if they're using your copyrighted stuff, even if it is fair use. This was a victory for people with deep pockets, not the little guy.
hoppyhoppy2 5y ago
This article is from a month ago and the decision was extensively discussed on HN back then.
- peeters 5y ago
  Yeah not to discourage further discussion but it would be good if admins could add a date to the title. The actual decision was in April, this is the megathread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26699106 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26699106

53 points by sim_card_map 5y ago

loudtieblahblah 5y ago

i just like two dystopian craphole companies tying up each other's money in the courtroom. i hope it continues.

DamnYuppie 5y ago
Accept this means anyone can copy anyone else's API. This will lead to the dystopian craphole companies of today becoming more dystopian and even crappier tomorrow as they trample over any small and successful entity.
- VBprogrammer 5y ago
  Being able to copy an API is a feature, not a bug. For the same reason that if you buy a crankset for a bike you should be able to get one that fits.

g051051 5y ago

Finally. It's absurd that it took the Supreme Court to settle this.

A4ET8a8uTh0 5y ago
Agreed, but I think a lot of us sighed a sigh of relief.
AndrewDucker 5y ago
When you've got two massive companies and potentially billions of dollars resting on a case then it will keep going up until there is no more up to go to.

VonGuard 5y ago

Let's hope this is the end. This law suit was a nuclear weapon that could have destroyed the entire API economy. Oracle was irresponsible bringing this suit.

jsiepkes 5y ago
I get what your saying but maybe in a weird way we should Oracle be thankful that this is now cleared up in a definitive way. Smaller companies who do not have the resources to fight such a thing can now refer to this case without having to fight this long battle.
- VonGuard 5y ago
  I suppose so, but I don't think this was something that needed to be decided in court. 100% of software engineers had decided this was fair use already, and built the world on top of this principle. Oracle wasn't even testing the load strength of the bridge, they were just being Oracle: sue instead of innovate.
- moomin 5y ago
  The problem is, you can tie someone up a long time if they're using your copyrighted stuff, even if it is fair use. This was a victory for people with deep pockets, not the little guy.

hoppyhoppy2 5y ago

This article is from a month ago and the decision was extensively discussed on HN back then.

peeters 5y ago
Yeah not to discourage further discussion but it would be good if admins could add a date to the title. The actual decision was in April, this is the megathread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26699106 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26699106