오픈소스 소프트웨어의 공정이용 - Oracle America, Inc. v. Google Inc. 사건을 통해 본 주요 쟁점과 전망 -

Having gone through the 5 years-long of legal dispute in relation with the copyright issue of open source software, the recent case of Google and Oracle now seems to open an essentially new phase, so-called "Fair Use." The fair use issue in copyright infringement lawsuit apparently could be regarded as a kind of legal defense, however the fundamental question is not simple to answer. The open source has a root idea of giving a guarantee of user's right and promoting a technical innovation even by yielding the right of creator, that is similar to the doctrine of fair use which sets the limits on the scope of copyrights in order to promote users' free use thereof and public interest. Despite the inherent conflict, those ideals have become poles apart in extreme ends throughout this legal dispute, creating a new aspect. Furthermore, the review should be made in a well-timed manner in that the issue of open source software fair use would have the considerable effect on software eco-system and market components, such as developers, users and corporations. In this regard, this article examined the concept and legal points of open source software and suggested the major issues, prospect, and future plans of open source software fair use by looking into the progress of the case and the court decision.