[throwawaykeno]

I don't think it's fair to call this law suit frivolous.

From a developer perspective, the ideal and just end result has always seemed rather obvious. However, the multi-year history of this case demonstrates the correct legal answer not so obvious, at least from a legal perspective.

For example, settling the issue on fair use was definitely not how most people thought/hoped this would shake out way back in the beginning of the law suit(s).

[AnimalMuppet]

If I learned one thing from the SCO mess, it's that a high-powered law firm can take absolutely no case and make it last at least a decade.

[sounds]

This law suit is frivolous based on the assumption that APIs are not copyrightable (a very reasonable assumption in 2009).

[icebraining]

But the result of the trial was that they are copyrightable, so clearly it wasn't frivolous.

[geofft]

The appellate court ruled that the law is that APIs are copyrightable, and sent it back. The jury decision here was that Google made fair use of a copyrighted API, not that APIs aren't copyrightable.