Justices Wrestle With Scope of Fees in Oracle Copyright Case (1)

U.S. Supreme Court justices struggled to pin down the definition of “full costs” in a copyright case over whether Rimini Street Inc. should have to pay $12.8 million dollars in non-taxable legal expenses to Oracle Corp.

Justice Stephen G. Breyer joined Justice Sonia Sotomayor and several other justices in questioning whether the Copyright Act allows courts to make the loser of a copyright case pay all of the winner’s litigation expenses, including expert witness fees and travel expenses.

“I often think that when Congress uses these words, it doesn’t really think about it,” Breyer said during oral argument.

The high ...