
Oracle America, Inc. v. Google, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
750 F.3d 1339 (2014)
Relevant factsFree
After licensing negotiations for Java failed, Google copied 37 of Oracle's Java API packages into its own Android platform so developers could use familiar designations, and the district court held none of Oracle's packages were copyrightable, finding no infringement.
IssueFree
Whether, in a copyright analysis for computer programs, the originality principle speaks to copyrightability, while the merger and scenes-a-faire principles can be offered as affirmative defenses to infringement.
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