Brief of Amicus Curiae Electronic Frontier Foundation In Support of Petitioner in Google v. Oracle, U.S. Supreme Court No. 18-956

Abstract

Amicus brief of Electronic Frontier Foundation in support of Google in Google v. Oracle, U.S. Supreme Court No. 18-956. The brief explains how 17 U.S.C § 102(b) has important exclusions from copyright in addition to the idea/expression dichotomy, including those derived from patent law. The brief provides several non-exclusive factors to determine copyrightability of functional aspects of computer programs, including which parts of computer programs are excluded from copyright under § 102(b), and which parts are protectable. The brief concludes with a discussion of the purpose of copyright, which is to serve the public interest.

Keywords: Oracle, Google, computer copyright, Section 102(b), computer language, network effects, purpose of copyright