Newsweek Quotes Stutz on Interoperability Issues at Heart of Google v. Oracle Case

Newsweek sought AAI’s perspective on the competition policy issues underlying the long-running copyright dispute between Google and Oracle.  In the May 23, 2019 article, “Google and Oracle’s $9 Billion ‘Copyright Case of the Decade’ Could be Headed for the Supreme Court,” Reporter Roger Parloff quoted AAI Vice President of Legal Advocacy Randy Stutz on the competitive implications concerning the copyrightability and fair use of applications programming interfaces (APIs) in software code:

“If the appeals court’s rulings stand, it’s likely to lead to entrenching dominant firms in software industries,” Stutz said.

“Imagine you are trying to come to market with a new platform,” he explained. “You would not only have to persuade consumers to switch, but you’d have to persuade developers to learn an entirely new vocabulary for the new platform.”

AAI filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to grant certiorari to overturn two Federal Circuit rulings in favor of Oracle that fail to prevent copyright overreaching in software industries.  The Court has invited the views of the U.S. Solicitor General, who is expected to opine in fall 2019.