What the Court agreed to answer
The Copyright Act provides that, while "original works of authorship" are generally eligible for copyright protection, 17 U.S.C. 102(a), "[i]n no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work," 17 U.S.C. 102(b). The Act also makes clear that "the fair use of a copyrighted work * * * is not an infringement of copyright." 17 U.S.C. 107. As is relevant here, software interfaces are lines of computer code that allow developers to operate prewritten libraries of code used to perform particular tasks. Since the earliest days of software development, developers have used interfaces to access essential tools for building new computer programs. Contravening that longstanding practice, the Federal Circuit in this case held both that a software interface is copyrightable and that petitioner's use of a software interface in a new computer program cannot constitute fair use as a matter of law. The questions presented are: 1. Whether copyright protection extends to a software interface. 2. Whether, as the jury found, petitioner's use of a software interface in the context of creating a new computer program constitutes fair use.
PRESS RELEASE OF MARCH 16, 2020 IN KEEPING WITH PUBLIC HEALTH PRECAUTIONS RECOMMENDED IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19, THE SUPREME COURT IS POSTPONING THE ORAL ARGUMENTS CURRENTLY SCHEDULED FOR THE MARCH SESSION.
4/13/2020: ARGUMENT TO BE RESCHEDULED FOR THE OCTOBER TERM 2020
ORDER OF MAY 5, 2020 THE PARTIES ARE DIRECTED TO FILE SUPPLEMENTAL LETTER BRIEFS ADDRESSING THE APPROPRIATE STANDARD OF REVIEW FOR THE SECOND QUESTION PRESENTED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE SEVENTH AMENDMENT, IF ANY, ON THAT STANDARD.
