Computer Science | Grinnell College

We will revisit the Oracle v. Google case after the recent appeals ruling in favor of Oracle. We will look at the circumstances surrounding the case, revisit definitions of patent and copyright, and try to understand what the ramifications of this decision are for users of Java, Android, open-source software, and the tech sector as a whole.

There are four readings, but if you are pressed for time, we recommend "A Brief History of Oracle v. Google" first and then reviewing the definitions of "Trademark, Patent, and Copyright" as needed.

• A brief article to review the concepts of trademark, patent, and copyright: Trademark, Patent, or Copyright? United States Patent and Trademark Office.
• Read this article to learn about the most recent decision in Oracle v. Google: Susan Decker. Google Could Owe Oracle $8.8 Billion in Android Fight. March 27, 2018. Bloomberg Technology.
• A summary of the history of the Oracle v. Google case: Jonathan Bailey. A Brief History of Oracle v. Google. March 29, 2018. Plagiarism Today.
• For more depth, dive into Wikipedia's history and background on the case: Oracle America, Inc. v. Google, Inc. Wikipedia.

Computer science table (CS Table) is a weekly meeting of Grinnell College community members (students, faculty, staff, etc.) interested in discussing topics related to computing and computer science. CS Table meets Tuesdays from 12:00–12:45pm in JRC 224A (inside the Marketplace). Contact the CS faculty for the weekly reading. Students on meal plans, faculty, and staff are expected to cover the cost of their meals. Visitors to the College and students not on meal plans can charge their meals to the department (sign in at the Marketplace front desk).

While many CS students may be aware of copyleft, DRM, and related issues, there are other interesting aspects of copyright law and practice that should generate vigorous discussion. The readings for this week includes three short articles, along with two brief background papers on fair use and copyright duration.

One good source of background material for our discussion this week is the overview of US copyright law at bitlaw.com. These brief descriptions of copyright law should be helpful: Duration of Copyrights; Fair Use in Copyright Law.

The primary articles (all short) are available here:

• How Mickey Mouse Keeps Changing Copyright Law. Steve Schlackman, Art Law Journal.
• The NFL wants you to think these things are illegal. Sherwin Siy, ArsTechnica.
• All-day Bowie and the Copyright Act. David Post, The Washington Post.

Computer science table (CS Table) is a weekly meeting of Grinnell College community members (students, faculty, staff, etc.) interested in discussing topics related to computing and computer science. CS Table meets Tuesdays from 12:00-12:45 in JRC 224C. Students on meal plans, faculty, and staff are expected to cover the cost of their meals. Visitors to the College and students not on meal plans can charge their meals to the department.

This week we'll be talking about Youtube and its efforts to enforce the rights of copyright holders with its ContentID system. In particular, we'll talk about the the history of ContentID and its effects on content creators and copyright holders over the last couple of years.

• Stephen McArthur. 2014. How to Beat a YouTube ContentID Copyright Claim – What every Gamer and MCN Should Know. Gamasutra.
• Electronic Frontier Foundation. 2015. Important Win for Fair Use in ‘Dancing Baby’ Lawsuit.
• Electronic Frontier Foundation. 2015. Lenz v Universal.
• (Optional) Eugene Weinstein and Pedro Moreno. Music Identification with Weighted Finite-state Transducers. In International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing (ICASSP) 2007, April 2007, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Computer science table (CS Table) is a weekly meeting of Grinnell College community members (students, faculty, staff, etc.) interested in discussing topics related to computing and computer science. CS Table meets Tuesdays from 12:00-12:45 in JRC 224C. Contact the CS faculty for the weekly reading. Students on meal plans, faculty, and staff are expected to cover the cost of their meals. Visitors to the College and students not on meal plans can charge their meals to the department. For the up-to-date CS Table schedule, please visit the CS Table webpage.

This week in Computer Science Table, we are exploring an intersection of software and the law. In particular, we're considering some issues of copyright and patent in software, and what those issues reveal about the U.S. intellectual property system.

Boyle, J. (2009). What intellectual property law should learn from software. Commun. ACM 52, 9 (Sep. 2009), 71-76. DOI=https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=1562164.1562184

CS Table meets at noon on Fridays in JRC 224A. All are welcome. Computer science students and faculty are particularly encouraged to attend.

The Department of Computer Science supports the free expression and exchange of ideas and opinions and hopes that users of its computer systems will actively explore the possibilities of electronic publication on the World Wide Web. The Department encourages students, faculty, and staff to create and publish Web pages through its servers, believing that such creative work develops analytical and imaginative thinking, critical independence, and respect for intellectual and social diversity.

Exercising one's right to free speech in an academic community, however, also entails some responsibilities that authors should be aware of:

• It is improper and inappropriate to use the Department's Web servers purposely to annoy, abuse, libel, threaten, or harass anyone, individually or collectively, or to violate state or federal laws.

• The author of a text or the creator of a graphic is protected by copyright law unless she specifically releases her work into the public domain. Other authors should not copy such texts or graphics onto their own Web pages without the original author's permission.

• In particular, authors should secure the permission of Grinnell College before using the College logo or reproducing parts of any College publication, and should not use the name of the College in any way that implies endorsement of the author's personal ideas and opinions.

• According to the Student Handbook, a Grinnell College student who wishes to start a business or to organize a fund-raising campaign must have prior approval and should apply to the Dean of Student Affairs.

• Authors should not use the Department's servers for any activity that violates the College's policies on academic honesty.

• The College's computing resources are finite. If one user's Web pages are so frequently accessed or involve the transmission of such large amounts of data that other uses of the equipment are impeded, the system administrators may remove the pages. (Normally, the user will first be given the opportunity to find a different Internet service provider better equipped to distribute those pages.)

• On each page, authors should provide either a mailto: link (in an HTML document) or an e-mail address, so that a reader can easily identify the author and send comments and criticism.

• Authors should ensure that their pages do not go out of date and should include the date of last revision on pages containing time-sensitive information.