In this week's post, we see Oracle’s copyright infringement suit against Google is to be heard by the Supreme Court.  If the Supreme Court decides in Oracle’s favor, it would have significant impact on how reimplantation and interaction with APIs occur.

Also, singer Michael Lee Aday known as “Meat Loaf” sues Dallas hotel over injuries suffered at the 2019 Texas Frightmare Weekend.

APIs and Copyright Law: Supreme Court to Decide Whether APIs Are Copyright Protectible

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear an incredibly important case between Oracle and Google regarding whether or not APIs can be protected under copyright law.  

In the case at hand, Oracle has accused Google of copying the API of Oracle’s Java programming language.  For those unfamiliar with the terminology, an API or “application programming interface” is basically the coding language that a computer relies on to execute tasks.  In other words, an API is the language that a computer relies on to know what to do.  Each API houses its own defined terms and vocabulary that includes named commands organized by grammatical structures that designate how the commands will be executed. 

In this case, to execute or perform specific tasks using Java, a programmer must know “how to code in Java.” In other words, the programmer must know the predefined terms, commands, and specific grammatical structures unique to Java.   

Oracle claims that the alleged copyright infringement occurred when Google copied the Java API commands wholesale in order to encourage programmers fluent in Java to program on Google’s Android operating system.  Oracle claims that Google knowingly reimplemented Java in order to entice programmers that were well-versed in Java into bringing their software and expertise to Google.  

Read the full article here.

Three Out of Three is Real Bad: Singer Meat Loaf Sues Dallas Hotel After Fall, Suffering Three Injuries

Famous for the Meat Loaf songs “Bat Out of Hell,” “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That),” and “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,” singer Michael Lee Aday known as “Meat Loaf” sues Dallas hotel over injuries suffered at the 2019 Texas Frightmare Weekend.

According to the Petition, Meat Loaf was injured when he accidentally fell off of the stage, suffering injuries to three areas and requiring approximately 6 weeks of hospital care.

Read more here.

Click to read the previous Weekly IP Buzz on Thriving Attorney.

For more posts, see our Intellectual Property Law Blog.

--------

In addition to Thriving Attorney, Darin M. Klemchuk is founder of Klemchuk LLP, a litigation, intellectual property, and transactional law firm located in Dallas, Texas. Click to read more about Darin Klemchuk's practice as an intellectual property lawyer.