Oracle says a Google victory in their Supreme Court battle over Java would hurt small US tech companies

• Oracle said Wednesday that a Google victory in the two tech behemoths' upcoming showdown before the US Supreme Court would hurt US tech companies, making them vulnerable to foreign competitors.
• Oracle also accused the search giant of stealing 11,000 lines of code and committing "an egregious act of plagiarism."
• Oracle made the allegations in a response brief filed late Wednesday; the two companies will appear before the Supreme Court in late March.
• Oracle also said "numerous" groups and individuals will also be endorsing its position before the court. One of them will be filed by the Songwriters Guild, which Oracle said will state: "There are untold riches in running the internet of other people's things."
• More than two dozen parties, including IBM and Microsoft, had submitted briefs supporting Google.
• The 10-year-old legal brawl is based on Oracle's claim that Google stole critical parts of its Java technology for its Android operating system. Google rejects the claim, arguing that Oracle cannot own this type of code which allows programs to talk to each other.
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Oracle said Wednesday that a Google victory in their Supreme Court battle would hurt US tech companies, making them vulnerable to foreign competitors.

The tech giant also accused Google of stealing 11,000 lines of code and committing an "egregious act of plagiarism."

Oracle unleashed the barrage of accusations as the tech giants geared up for a showdown before the Supreme Court. The two companies are set to appear before the court on March 24.

"Google has a problem," Oracle said in a response brief filed late Wednesday. "It committed an egregious act of plagiarism and now needs to rewrite copyright law to justify it. It cannot."

The 10-year-old battle is based on Oracle's claim that Google stole critical parts of its Java technology for its Android operating system. Google rejects the claim, arguing that Oracle cannot own this type of code - known as APIs, or application programming interfaces - which allows programs to talk to each other.

Oracle acquired Java when it bought Sun Microsystems in 2010. Oracle called Java "one of the most creative and intricately designed works of software ever written." It said that instead of developing its own technology, "Google opted to plagiarize."

Oracle argued that the case would lead to the weakening of copyright protections which would harm US companies.

"If Google gets its way, the law will be rewritten and copyright protection for software code will not just be severely scaled back, it will be threatened in its entirety," Oracle said in a statement."This would stifle innovation, hurt the smaller industry players, and leave U.S. companies vulnerable to foreign competitors."

Google hit back Wednesday saying it is Oracle's position that "would undermine the practices that have helped developers build on existing technology and create new products," spokesperson Jose Castanada told Business Insider in an email.

Google's position has been endorsed by dozens of individuals and organizations, including tech giants Microsoft and IBM which have filed briefs with the Supreme Court supporting the company's arguments.

Ken Glueck, executive vice president at Oracle, said in a blog post that "numerous" Supreme Court briefs will also be filed supporting the company's position.

One of them will be filed by the Songwriters Guild, which Glueck said will state: "There are untold riches in running the Internet of other people's things."

"Only a songwriter could so eloquently capture the essence of this case, and Google's business practices," Glueck wrote. "We wish we would have thought of that line ourselves, but we didn't, so we repeat it here (with credit and permission)."

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