• The Four Hundred
  • Subscribe
  • Media Kit
  • Contributors
  • About Us
  • Contact
Menu
  • The Four Hundred
  • Subscribe
  • Media Kit
  • Contributors
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Supreme Court Weighs In On Oracle Vs. Rimini Street

    March 13, 2019 Alex Woodie

    The United States Supreme Court last week ruled against Oracle in its ongoing copyright infringement case against Rimini Street, handing the provider of third-party support services for JD Edwards, PeopleSoft, and Siebel ERP and CRM software a legal victory in the nation’s highest court.

    It’s not often that lawsuits involving enterprise software and services make their way up to the Supreme Court. In this case, the nine justices were asked to rule on a relatively narrow disagreement between the two parties over what legal costs can be recovered. Oracle already prevailed in its copyright infringement case against Rimini Street, which it filed in United States District Court in Las Vegas, Nevada, way back in 2010.

    Following the conclusion of a jury trial in October 2015, Rimini was ordered to pay Oracle nearly $52.8 million in damages for infringing upon Oracle’s copyrights. A year later, the court ordered Rimini to pay an addition $46.2 million to compensate Oracle’s attorney’s fees and costs associated with the protracted legal battle. All told, Rimini faced a legal bill in excess of $124 million at one point.

    Rimini appealed the loss in federal court, and in early 2018, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals re-affirmed Rimini’s guilt in accessing Oracle’s copyrighted material. But the court tossed out the lower court’s ruling that Rimini had violated California and Nevada state laws by using “automatic downloaders” to access the copyrighted material. That lowered Rimini’s legal exposure by about $50 million.

    Rimini continued its appeal to lower its legal bill, and in a unanimous 9-0 ruling, the Supreme Court sided with the Las Vegas-based company against Oracle and a previous ruling of the Ninth Circuit. Writing the majority opinion, Justice Bret Kavanagh explained that the Ninth Circuit had misinterpreted the meaning of a section of the Copyright Act that has to do with awarding “full costs” to the prevailing party in copyright litigation.

    According to Justice Kavanaugh’s opinion, recuperation of costs in the Copyright Act is limited to the six categories of costs specified by Congress in the general federal costs statute, which include clerk and marshal fees; printing or transcribing costs; witness-related costs; costs related to copying materials; docket fees; and compensation for court-appointed experts, including interpreters and special interpretation services.

    Oracle argued that the term “full costs” isn’t limited to those six categories, and that it refers to all costs associated with litigation, including expert witness fees, e-discovery expenses, and jury consultant fees. To back up its claim, Oracle argued that Congress borrowed the meaning of “full costs” from English copyright laws when it passed the Copyright Act of 1831, and that this meaning should override any cost schedules contained in the Fee Act of 1853.

    “Courts need not, however, undertake extensive historical excavation to determine the meaning of costs statutes,” Kavanaugh writes, citing case law. “Congress may authorize awards of expenses beyond the six categories specified in the general costs statute but courts may not award litigation expenses that are not specified in §§1821 and 1920 absent explicit authority.”

    As part of the decision, Kavanaugh took Oracle to task for its interpretation of the word “full.” “The word ‘full’ operates in the phrase ‘full costs’ just as it operates in other common phrases: A ‘full moon’ means the moon, not Mars. A ‘full breakfast’ means breakfast, not lunch. A ‘full season ticket plan’ means tickets, not hot dogs. So too, the term ‘full costs’ means costs, not other expenses.”

    Rimini attorney Mark Perry applauded the decision. “The Supreme Court unanimously agreed with the structural, grammatical, and historical arguments that we advanced on behalf of Rimini Street, and rejected the contrary positions put forth by Oracle,” he stated in a press release. “The Court brought cost awards under the Copyright Act back into line with hundreds of other federal statutes.”

    Oracle Vice President for Corporate Communications Deborah Hellinger brushed off the loss, saying the Supreme Court ruling on fees was “ancillary” to the core rulings in the case.

    “The Supreme Court’s narrow decision today on recovery of a type of cost does not change the fundamental facts of the case: Rimini engaged in a massive theft of Oracle’s IP and tried to cover it up by destroying evidence and engaging in other litigation misconduct, but it got tagged for its illegal activities anyway by both judge and jury, as the opinion acknowledges,” Hellinger stated.

    As a result of the ruling, Oracle must return $12.8 million that Rimini had paid Oracle. While the case made it to the Supreme Court, that doesn’t spell the end of Oracle vs. Rimini Street. Rimini is still appealing the Ninth Circuit’s judgments in the case, and currently is trying to recoup $28.5 million it paid Oracle.

    RELATED STORIES

    Rimini To Pay Oracle For Copyright Infringement, Damages

    Trial Date Set in Oracle vs. Rimini

    Oracle Bests Rimini Street in Latest Court Battle

    Judge Gives Oracle Partial Victory in Rimini Case

    Rimini Street Counter Sues Oracle

    Oracle Sues Rimini Street Over Support Intellectual Property

    Share this:

    • Reddit
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Email

    Tags: Tags: IBM i, JD Edwards, Oracle, PeopleSoft, Rimini Street, Siebel ERP

    Sponsored by
    WorksRight Software

    Do you need area code information?
    Do you need ZIP Code information?
    Do you need ZIP+4 information?
    Do you need city name information?
    Do you need county information?
    Do you need a nearest dealer locator system?

    We can HELP! We have affordable AS/400 software and data to do all of the above. Whether you need a simple city name retrieval system or a sophisticated CASS postal coding system, we have it for you!

    The ZIP/CITY system is based on 5-digit ZIP Codes. You can retrieve city names, state names, county names, area codes, time zones, latitude, longitude, and more just by knowing the ZIP Code. We supply information on all the latest area code changes. A nearest dealer locator function is also included. ZIP/CITY includes software, data, monthly updates, and unlimited support. The cost is $495 per year.

    PER/ZIP4 is a sophisticated CASS certified postal coding system for assigning ZIP Codes, ZIP+4, carrier route, and delivery point codes. PER/ZIP4 also provides county names and FIPS codes. PER/ZIP4 can be used interactively, in batch, and with callable programs. PER/ZIP4 includes software, data, monthly updates, and unlimited support. The cost is $3,900 for the first year, and $1,950 for renewal.

    Just call us and we’ll arrange for 30 days FREE use of either ZIP/CITY or PER/ZIP4.

    WorksRight Software, Inc.
    Phone: 601-856-8337
    Fax: 601-856-9432
    Email: software@worksright.com
    Website: www.worksright.com

    Share this:

    • Reddit
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Email

    Five Acquisitions You May Have Missed Building Out The .NET Stack Around Mono for IBM i

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

TFH Volume: 29 Issue: 16

This Issue Sponsored By

  • ProData Computer Services
  • ARCAD Software
  • Northeast User Groups Conference
  • Profound Logic Software
  • CNX

Table of Contents

  • Building Out The .NET Stack Around Mono for IBM i
  • Supreme Court Weighs In On Oracle Vs. Rimini Street
  • Five Acquisitions You May Have Missed
  • Four Hundred Monitor, March 13
  • IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 21, Number 10

Content archive

  • The Four Hundred
  • Four Hundred Stuff
  • Four Hundred Guru

Recent Posts

  • POWERUp 2025 –Your Source For IBM i 7.6 Information
  • Maxava Consulting Services Does More Than HA/DR Project Management – A Lot More
  • Guru: Creating An SQL Stored Procedure That Returns A Result Set
  • As I See It: At Any Cost
  • IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 27, Number 19
  • IBM Unveils Manzan, A New Open Source Event Monitor For IBM i
  • Say Goodbye To Downtime: Update Your Database Without Taking Your Business Offline
  • i-Rays Brings Observability To IBM i Performance Problems
  • Another Non-TR “Technology Refresh” Happens With IBM i TR6
  • IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 27, Number 18

Subscribe

To get news from IT Jungle sent to your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter.

Pages

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Contributors
  • Four Hundred Monitor
  • IBM i PTF Guide
  • Media Kit
  • Subscribe

Search

Copyright © 2025 IT Jungle