CS 261 Computers, the User and Society Fall 2020 

Paper 5 - Intellectual Property

Background

In November 2019, the US Supreme Court agreed to hear the case Google v. Oracle. The respondent Oracle, the owner of the intellectual property rights for the programming language Java, claimed the petitioner Google infringed upon Oracle's rights. Google has claimed fair use. Arguments are scheduled to be heard in October 2020. The recent death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg leaves the Supreme Court with just eight justices. Thus a 4-4 split will result in the lower court ruling to be final.

Assignment

Write a 750-1000 word paper discussing this case. Give a brief summary what is a copyright and what constitutes fair use. Give a brief overview of the case, then discuss the positive and negative claims for each side. Finally, imagine you are the newly appointed Supreme Court Justice; explain your decision on this case.

Base your paper on our class discussions, material in our text, and the resources below. Additional references can be used and should be appropriately cited.

Grading Rubric

Grade Element Point Assessment
Overview of Copyright and Fair Use 10
Summary of Google v. Oracle Case 60
Decision 20
Mechanics and Writing
Include your name and a title for your paper. Your paper must a PDF with a 10-12 point font, a professional font face, and 1-1.5" margins. Your paper should be free of typos and grammatical errors. Your paper should be well organized and enjoyable to read.
10
Total 100

Deliverables

Email me a copy of your paper as a PDF.

References


Copyright © 2020, David A. Reimann. All rights reserved.