Oracle, Google to face each other in legal battle over APIs

Oracle and Google are set to face each other in yet another legal battle. In 2014, a US court of appeals ruled that copyright law applied to Application Programming Interfaces (API)s specifically, the 37 Java API packages Google used in the Android mobile operating system.

That ruling would likely seriously impact Android, with command over 80 per cent of the smartphone market. Software developers, and the software industry at large would also be impacted. The legal battle, set to begin today, would likely determine the impact on the future of software development, commentators say.

Oracle and Google will face off in San Francisco's US District Court today to determine whether the use of the API packages by Google amounted to "fair use." If not, the court would need to assess the damages and were things to go Oracle's way, Google could end up owing the software giant a whopping sum, to the tune of $9 billion, far surpassing any other copyright verdict.

The outcome is likely to have wide-ranging implications for not only future versions of Android but also the way developers, from major companies and startups alike, approached interoperable software.

According to experts, the case revolved around the proper use of APIs. APIs essentially define how different types of code communicate with each other. If API owners could use copyright law to control how programming was done, it would entail huge changes. Many developers, especially of open source software, would be badly hit.

"That is really going to create a radical shift in how software is developed worldwide," Mitch Stoltz, an attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation that had been closely following the case, said in an interview, arstechnica.com reported. "If it requires permission each time APIs are used and code calls other code, then you've upended the economics of software."

Oracle came to acquire the Java language with its acquisition of Sun Microsystems in 2009. While the Java language was free to use, Oracle sued Google in 2010, claiming infringement of Java copyrights with Google's use of 37 Java APIs in building Android.