Note however that deleting the files don't suddenly make the copyright infringement claims invalid.
Sure, but it appears that there was no intent and that the actual damages from the infringement are roughly $0. It may result in a small penalty, but it's in no way a threat to Android's future.
> It may result in a small penalty
Especially considering they did register their copyright on Java 5. I know because I have read the court exhibits.
Yup, statutory damages for copyright infringement suck for individuals, but for someone like Google they're not awful (AFAIR it's something like $7,500 or $150,000 depending on something per count).
True, but if they did ship something tainted, then that could be a very large count.