Over the past several weeks there has been much commentary regarding the U.S. Supreme Court's recent opinion in Andy Warhol Foundation ("AWF") v. Goldsmith. The facts of the case date back to the early 1980s when Vanity Fair...more
The United States Supreme Court recently issued its first opinion in the realm of copyright since its 2021 decision in Google v. Oracle, this time focusing not on software and source code, but on pop art and the publishing...more
In a closely watched copyright case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Andy Warhol’s portraits of music legend Prince did not qualify as fair use under copyright law. The decision affirms a previous ruling by the...more
Many people were disappointed when the most-watched copyright case of the past 10 years, Oracle’s lawsuit against Google over Google’s copying Java application programming interface (API) code, failed to yield better guidance...more
On March 28th, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith, a case involving the core issues around copyright fair use. The case involves a series of Warhol drawings and silkscreen prints adapted...more
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed last week to review the Second Circuit’s decision that Andy Warhol’s well-known “Prince Series” was not a “transformative” fair use of the copyrighted Lynn Goldsmith photograph that Warhol used...more
Addressing fair use as an affirmative defense to copyright infringement, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit amended its recent opinion, reversing a district court’s summary judgment in favor of fair use. The Court...more
After more than a decade of litigation that included multiple trials and appeals, the Supreme Court of the United States finally put an end to the copyright infringement case Oracle brought against Google. The case was about...more
In Google LLC v. Oracle America Inc., the Supreme Court, in a 6–2 decision2 written by Justice Breyer, held that Google’s copying of Oracle’s Java application programming interface (API) naming convention was a fair use as a...more
Copying From a Copyrighted Computer Program May Be Fair Use to the Extent Needed to Promote Adoption of the Use of Accrued Talents in Creating a New Software Platform - In Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc., Appeal No....more
In This Issue - Section 230 and the Future of Content Moderation - We analyze Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act—the 1996 law that provides a legal shield for internet providers from content created by their...more
The Court cleared Google of copyright infringement in terminating a 16-year long dispute as to whether Google’s Android mobile platform had infringed Oracle’s Java programming language’s copyright. However, the Court did not...more
Ending a struggle between two tech titans stretching over more than a decade, the Supreme Court held in a 6-2 opinion that Google’s copying of key portions of the Application Programming Interface (API) of Oracle’s Java SE...more
The Supreme Court’s recent landmark ruling in Google v. Oracle ended a decade-long legal battle between the tech giants, finding that Google’s copying of over 11,000 lines of Oracle’s Sun Java application programming...more
The decade-long dispute between Google LLC and Oracle America Inc. has now ended with the Supreme Court ruling 6-2 in favor of Google. This dispute concerned Google’s use of Oracle’s “declaring code” – software that provides...more
The question of fair use has been the subject of many notable court decisions, including one recent one from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals holding that Warhol’s use in the artwork of Lynn Goldsmith’s photographs wasn’t...more
On April 5, 2021, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Google v. Oracle, ruling 6-2 in Google’s favor on the issue of fair use. So ends a decade-plus battle between two tech giants that many viewed as having the potential...more
After the Supreme Court's April 6 decision in Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc., 141 S.Ct. 1183 (2021), the computer software and programming industry can breathe a tentative sigh of relief and perhaps sleep more soundly....more
In a 6–2 decision authored by Justice Breyer, the Supreme Court of the United States reversed the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s 2018 ruling that Google’s use of Oracle’s Java application programming interface...more
On April 5, 2021, the United States Supreme Court decided the case of Google, LLC v. Oracle America, Inc. in favor of Google by a 6-2 majority, with Barrett not participating. Oracle owns a copyright in Java, a popular...more
Finding Google’s copying a fair use, the Supreme Court ended Oracle’s decade-long attempt to recover copyright damages. The battle began between these tech giants when Google designed its Android software platform for mobile...more
U.S. Supreme Court holds that Google's use of a small fraction of Oracle's Java SE API code for its Android platform is a fair use under copyright law. On April 5, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court ended a more than 10-year...more
In a narrowly drawn, yet significant decision, the Supreme Court reversed the Federal Circuit and ruled that Google LLC’s (“Google”) copying of some of the Sun Java Application Programming Interface (API) declaring code was a...more
GOOGLE LLC V. ORACLE AMERICA, INC. Before the United States Supreme Court (Opinion by Justice Breyer) on Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Summary: Where use of...more
On Monday, April 5, 2021, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Google in a dispute over Google’s use of Oracle’s copyrighted software in its Android platform, because the use was protected under the “fair use” doctrine....more