Research On The Standard Of Fair Use Of Computer Software API

The lawsuit between Oracle and Google on the use of computer software APIs lasted for ten years,during which five lawsuits were filed,and the Supreme Court of the United States finally made a final judgment in 2021.API is the abbreviation for Application Programming Interface,which belongs to the application programming interface and is widely used in the software development industry.This article explores the standards for determining the fair use of APIs in the case of Oracle v.Google,and draws inspiration from the judgments of various federal courts in the United States in the Google case.The issue of API use is identified within the framework of China’s copyright law system,clarifying the conditions required for determining the fair use of APIs in China’s copyright law system.This will help China’s judicial authorities better use the fair use system to resolve disputes over API issues.This article clarifies the unique characteristics of APIs by analyzing the factors that cause copyright infringement disputes.It aims to understand how US courts recognized fair use before the Google case,and to use this as a theoretical basis to study the three judgments related to fair use in the Google case.This study compares the different opinions of the US District Court,the Court of Appeal,and the Supreme Court on fair use,Analyze the rules for determining the reasonable use of API usage by US courts.At the same time,through the analysis of the theoretical status of the recognition of fair use in China and the judicial status of API,it is found that there are the following problems: 1.The court’s review of API remains focused on copyright analysis;2.The usage limit of API is not clear;3.Overemphasis on the impact on the market of the original work in the generalized regulation;4.Reasonable use is deemed to be essentially closed.In response to these issues,this article explores the reference significance of the Google case’s determination of API fair use for China,and conducts feasibility studies on the legitimacy of API fair use regulations,as well as the differences between the Google case’s determination of fair use and China’s API judicial determination,and the areas for reference.According to the judgment experience of Google case,the following suggestions are put forward for the determination of reasonable use of API in China: 1.Learn from the judgment ideas of the United States Supreme Court on API use behavior in Chimerica case,and determine the reasonable use of API on the basis of assuming that API constitutes a work;2.The use of API functional parts can be considered as reasonable use;3.Drawing on the method of measuring public interest in the Google case,as long as the purpose of use is in line with public or industry interests and objectively creates greater value,it can be considered reasonable use;4.Quote the concept of transformative use with restrictions,and limit it through the general provisions of the three-step test method,in order to balance the interests between the nature of the behavior and market factors,and appropriately expand the scope of the determination of reasonable use,in response to technical use behaviors such as APIs,making the determination of reasonable use more in line with social development needs.