Peter Kaminski / Flickr Creative Commons
Oracle has filed an appeal in a copyright case against Google that is a years-old point of acrimony between the two companies.
The gritty details: Google used elements of Oracle's Java application programming interface (API) while creating its Android operating systems for smartphones. Oracle sued arguing copyright infringement. Most recently, a jury in California ruled that Google's use of the code was a legal example of fair use. That's the ruling that Oracle appealed on Friday. Their case:
"Google's copying in this case is the software equivalent of this classic unfair use. Google copied thousands of lines of copyrighted code from Oracle's Java programming platform. Google concedes it put that code to the same use in the competing Android platform, for what this Court already has deemed 'entirely commercial' purposes. And Google reaped billions of dollars while leaving Oracle's Java business in tatters."
What's at stake: Oracle has previously asked for billions of dollars from Google over the dispute. More broadly, the case gets at legal questions key to software development.