Oracle Faces Tough Questions in Copyright Appeal From Rimini

Oracle International Corp.‘s software copyright lawsuit against Rimini Street Inc., a third-party support service for Oracle customers, faced a skeptical panel of Ninth Circuit judges at oral arguments Wednesday.

Oracle claimed during the yearslong litigation that Rimini built a third-party software servicing business entirely through illegally copying of Oracle’s code for software such as PeopleSoft without a license.

Oracle’s argument about when Rimini is or isn’t violating Oracle’s copyrights by servicing Oracle customers “feels entirely circular,” Judge Jay S. Bybee said. He noted that Rimini would have to made copies of computer code in order to service customers with ...