Google defeats Oracle, jury decides Android is fair use

SAN FRANCISCO — Google's Android operating system does not infringe on Oracle copyrights, a jury ruled Thursday.

The jury reached the verdict after three days of deliberation in the two-week trial in federal court in San Francisco.

Oracle was seeking billions of dollars, claiming Android violated its copyright on parts of the Java programming language. Google argued the fair-use provision of copyright law allowed it to use Java without paying a fee.

"Today's verdict that Android makes fair use of Java APIs represents a win for the Android ecosystem, for the Java programming community, and for software developers who rely on open and free programming languages to build innovative consumer products," Google said in an emailed statement.

The verdict is the latest development in the six-year legal skirmish over software copyrights with billions of dollars in damages at stake.

Oracle pledged it would appeal the verdict.

"We strongly believe that Google developed Android by illegally copying core Java technology to rush into the mobile device market. Oracle brought this lawsuit to put a stop to Google’s illegal behavior. We believe there are numerous grounds for appeal," Oracle's general counsel Dorian Daley said in an emailed statement