On November 3, 2015 Michael Hussey's article, "Copyright Captures APIs: A New Caution For Developers," was published in Techcrunch.com.
Assumption that APIs are Exempt from Copyright
Protection Must Change, Says Hussey
The ramifications of the copyright infringement battle between
tech heavyweights Oracle and Google concerning APIs are significant
for software entrepreneurs, says Brinks' Michael Hussey in his recent article for
TechCrunch.com.
No one disputes that Google copied a portion of Oracle's Java
application programming interface (API) to create the Android
operating system. In the sensational case of Google v.
Oracle, the Federal Circuit decided that Oracle's Java API
is copyrightable, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider an
appeal.
Because using APIs is so common, notes Hussey, startups and
established software companies need to operate with a clear
understanding of the implications of this decision in order to
avoid running afoul of others' copyrights—and to leverage
their own.
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