SAP To Pay Oracle $306 Million For Copyright Infringement

Business software developer SAP has agreed to pay Oracle Inc. a sum of $306 million. Originally, Oracle won a $1.3 billion copyright infringement lawsuit against SAP back in 2010 but a judge reduced the amount to $272 million. Instead of taking the $272 million, Oracle opted for a new trial which was scheduled to take place on August 27th. SAP and Oracle both decided that a $306 million judgement would cost less money and time spend in court, therefore it would mutually benefit both parties.

Who is SAP?

Founded in 1972, SAP is a developer of software designed to manage business relations operations. Their most popular software is possibly the enterprise resource planning application (ERPA), which is used to manage a variety of functions and aspects for medium to large sized businesses.

About The Judgement

In 2010, SAP illegally downloaded and used millions of files owned by Oracle. In turn, Oracle filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the business software developer and a jury awarded them $1.3 billion. Unfortunately for Oracle, a judge then reduced this amount to $272 million. Oracle could have taken this open or chose to seek another trial, which they did. Earlier this month, though, the two companies came to an agreement on a judgement of $306 million.

Even though SAP and Oracle have agreed to a $306 million judgement, Oracle is still seeking a new trial. In the event the court judgement is less than this specified amount, SAP has agreed to pay the difference.

Currently, Oracle is seeking a federal appeal to reinstate the original $1.3 billion jury verdict. Once the appeal process is over and verdict has been handed down, SAP will then have to pay the agreed amount. SAP has already paid roughly $120 million in legal fees alone. With another $1.3 billion looming over their heads, the company could be looking at some financial hardship in the near future.

SAP has stated they believe this case has gone on long enough and wish to resolve it in a reasonable amount of time. In addition, a spokesperson for SAP said “Although we believe that $306 million is more than the appropriate damages amount, we agreed to this in an effort to bring this case to a reasonable resolution.”

Illegally downloading and using Oracle software is pretty bold act, even for a large company such as SAP. I’m not sure they expected to fully over their tracks after downloading millions of their files, but now SAP must pay the price.