3 Count: Free API

Jonathan BaileyJune 1, 2012

2 minutes read

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: Oracle Suffers Major Setback in Google Case

First off today, Reuters is reporting that Google has scored another major victory in its case against Oracle. Oracle had sued Google claiming that the search giant violated both their patents and copyrights when Google developed the version of JAVA for the mobile Android operating system. The trial, which took place in two parts, one for the copyright issues and one for the patent issues, ended with the jury siding with Google completely on patent issues but split on the copyright ones. One of the key copyright issues the jurors were unable to rule on was was whether some 37 APIs, or Application Programming Interfaces, sections of codes that let applications talk to each other, were a fair use. The judge in the case, however, ruled that the APIs involved were not copyrightable, putting an end to any possibility of an immediate retrial and prompting Oracle to promise an appeal. The ruling just leaves Oracle with one successful claim of copyright infringement, for which damages have been capped at the statutory amount of $150,000.

2: Authors Win Class Status in Google Books Suit

Next up today, Reuters is also reporting that authors in the Google Book Search lawsuit have won the right to class action status, meaning that they can sue as a group. The lawsuit, which pits Google against authors, represented by the Author’s Guild and photographers, represented by the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), as well as book publishers, had seen Google try to disallow class action status for the authors claiming that the Author’s Guild does not represent the plaintiffs involved. However, the judge ruled in favor of both the Author’s Guild and the ASMP, ruling that it would be much more simple and would prevent the case from being overly burdensome for any one side. Google has continuously said that Google Book Search, which has scanned and indexed millions of physical books, does not violate copyright law.

3: Ubisoft Files Complaint Against Author in Assassin’s Creed Disagreement

Finally today, Mike Rose at Gamasutra writes that Ubisoft, the makers of the popular Assassin’s Creed game series, have filed suit against author John L. Beiswenger seeking a ruling that their game does not infringe his earlier work. Beiswenger had sued Ubisoft previously claiming that the game’s story was an infringement of his novels. However, Beiswenger had dismissed the suit without prejudice, opening up the possibility to re-file it later. This prompted Ubisoft to file a suit of their own, seeking a declaration that the original suit was without merit so that they can continue to develop the series without the fear of litigation. According to Rose, Beiswenger has not yet seen the lawsuit and could not comment directly on it.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.