GigaOM: Tech world stunned as court rules Oracle can own APIs, Google loses copyright appeal

GigaOM:

“In an unusual decision, an appeals court in Washington ruled on Friday that Oracle can copyright application programming interfaces (APIs) for the Java programming language. The ruling is a defeat for Google, which uses the APIs for its Android software, but also has implications for the technology industry as a whole, where APIs — which let computer programs speak to each other — are considered to be a basic building tool and outside the scope of copyright.

In a unanimous three-judge ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that a district judge in California erred in 2012 by declaring that the APIs were simply a function or an idea, and not an expression subject to copyright protection.”

Read the rest of the article at
http://gigaom.com/2014/05/09/tech-world-stunned-as-court-rules-oracle-can-own-apis-google-loses-copyright-appeal/