<i>There&#x27;s a fair use defense for interoperability.</i><p>Which hasn&#x27;t been defined in this case.<p><i>So despite all the hype, this case is unlikely to have a huge effect on the software industry.</i><p>Oracle might try and paint that picture, but I&#x27;m afraid it will. There can be no software industry if APIs are subject to copy-write, and if they are, simply using them always comes under fair use. That&#x27;s why....you use them.