Apple loses its copyright lawsuit against device virtualization company Corellium

It has been over a year since Apple filed a copyright lawsuit against the device virtualization company Corellium. But now a verdict has been handed down, and it’s decidedly against Apple.

According to The Washington Post today, Apple has lost its legal battle against Corellium, with the judge ruling in favor of the latter company. Corellium has made a name for itself over the years by allowing folks to virtualize iOS on their other devices. The purpose is security research, with Corellium’s virtualization tools allowing researchers to try and discover bugs in the software.

The judge handling the case between Apple and Corellium has tossed it out, saying that Corellium has established the burden of fair use, and, as a result, its product is “permissible” to use.

Weighing all the necessary factors, the Court finds that Corellium has met its burden of establishing fair use,” Judge Smith wrote Tuesday’s order. “Thus, its use of iOS in connection with the Corellium Product is permissible.

Apple officially filed a lawsuit against Corellium in August of last year, saying the iOS virtualization software infringed on Apple’s own copyright. Following the initial lawsuit, Corellium offered up different soundbites leading up to the end of 2019.

For instance, in October, Corellium filed its response to Apple’s initial legal claim, saying:

On Monday, Corellium, the startup that was sued by Apple for alleged copyright infringement in August, filed its response to the lawsuit. Apple alleged that Corellium’s product is illegal, and helps researchers sell hacking tools based on software bugs found in iOS to government agencies that then use them to hack targets. The cybersecurity world was shocked by Apple’s lawsuit, which was seen as an attempt to use copyright as an excuse to control the thriving, and largely legal, market for software vulnerabilities. The lawsuit was filed just a few days after Apple announced it would give researchers special “pre-hacked” devices to allow them to find and report more bugs to the company.

And in December of 2019, Corellium’s CEO said that Apple is “seeking to set a precedent to eliminate public jailbreaks”.