WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court denied a request from Google to hear a case in which it was accused of infringing Oracle copyrights by using Java in its Android mobile operating system.

In a huge victory for Oracle, the Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear Google’s appeal of a May 2014 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In that decision, the appeals court ruled that Java APIs used by Google were covered by copyright. The Supreme Court decision opens the door for Oracle, which purchased Java developer Sun Microsystems in 2010, to charge licensing fees for Java in Android.

But before that happens, the case goes back to a district court to decide questions about whether Google had a fair use exemption to copyright law for Java in Android.

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