The Obama administration is getting some flak on the Interwebs after it weighed in on a topic near and dear to the hearts of computer programmers: whether APIs can be copyrighted. The Justice Department sided with Oracle in the company s long-running fight against Google over Java, telling the Supreme Court that it shouldn t hear Google s appeal.
As I wrote, Oracle last year won an appeal of a 2012 ruling that copyright law didn t apply to Java s API (application programming interface). Oracle had sued Google for billions of dollars, charging that it copied Java for use in the Android mobile operating system, violating its patents and copyrights. Google said the code in question was protected by fair use — Java is commonly used by developers — and the original ruling heavily favored Google.
Ars Technica points out that computer scientists last year urged the Supreme Court to overturn last year s appeals court decision. (The EFF has a PDF of the amicus brief it filed.)
API creators would have veto rights over any developer who wants to create a compatible program — regardless of whether she copies any literal code from the original API implementation, EFF lawyers wrote. That, in turn, would upset the settled business practices that have enabled the American computer industry to flourish, and choke off many of the system s benefits to consumers.
Here s some reaction to the Justice Department s filing Tuesday — which the Supreme Court doesn t necessarily have to heed:
Techdirt s Mike Masnick notes that copyright law states that it does not apply to method of operation. :
If you understand [how software and programming work], you recognize that APIs are more or less a recipe — instructions on how to connect — and thus you recognize how incredibly stupid it would be to claim that s covered by copyright.
Jeff John Roberts of Fortune, a lawyer, journalist and copyright and intellectual property expert, writes that the outcome has serious repercussions not just for Google, but the entire software industry :
Sure, copyright API s says Obama Admin. This is bash-your-head-on-the-desk bad:
— Jeff Roberts (@jeffjohnroberts)
And one of Silicon Valley s sages had something to say, too.
Obama administration to software programmers: Drop dead! — Marc Andreessen (@pmarca)
Photo: Oracle headquarters in Redwood City. (AFP/Getty Images)
