Google Wins Oracle Copyright Row at Top Court, Ending Battle (1)

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Alphabet Inc.’s Google didn’t commit copyright infringement when it used Oracle Corp.’s programming code in the Android operating system, sparing Google from what could have been a multibillion-dollar award.

The 6-2 ruling, which overturns a victory for Oracle, marks a climax to a decade-old case that divided Silicon Valley and promised to reshape the rules for the software industry. Oracle was seeking as much as $9 billion.

Alphabet rose 4.2% as of 12:42 p.m. in New York. Oracle was up 4.0%.

The court said Google engaged in legitimate “fair use” when ...