On 15/05/14 20:58, Bradley M. Kuhn wrote:
[ I attempted to post a message similar to this on May 12th, but it never
showed up in the archives nor did I get a copy back via the list as
I usually do for my posts. I'm posting again, so if the moderators
just missed my previous email, please just delete that one and mod
this one through instead. Thanks! ]
I'd encourage people to not go off too far in speculating about the Oracle
v. Google case, and/or worrying about how it relates to GPL enforcement or
anything like that. The case is remanded back to the lower court, and until
a new jury considers the fair use defense, there is not that much to say.
(IANAL and TINLA, of course.)
But, unless I have misunderstood the lawyers (such as the EFF) who have opined
on the Oracle vs Google
appeal decision, the finding that the merger doctrine should be applied to the
time of the original creation, not
the time of alleged infringement, resulting in the fact that APIs can be
copyrighted is now precedent - unless overturned by an en-banc hearing or
appeal to the Supreme court.
"Today's decision puts all of that at risk, potentially handing Oracle and others
veto power over any developer who wants to create a compatible program." [0]
That's regardless of the outcome of a fair-use trial in the particular case.
I need to make a decision on whether to continue the work I'm currently engaged
upon reimplementing a proprietary
API and protocol in a GPL v3 project, or to abandon it before I waste a couple
of years creating something that cannot
be freely distributed.
[0]
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/05/dangerous-ruling-oracle-v-google-federal-circuit-reverses-sensible-lower-court
