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One could argue whether an API is a creative work however. Are you copyrighting the syntax or the semantics? If it is the semantics, then you are essentially

• Silhouette 10y ago
  One could argue whether an API is a creative work however. True, though I suggest a better alternative is that some types of work -- in particular, those necessary for effective communication or for interoperability -- should be explicitly exempt from copyright protection, regardless of any creative element. Copyright itself is an economic trade-off, sacrificing some freedom in the interests of promoting what is considered a greater good. In the same spirit, I would argue that the ability of different parties to communicate and work together effectively is a greater good than anything copyright incentivizes and should therefore take precedence. Curiously, the US legal system already recognises a similar principle in the way it treats typefaces. I submit that analogous treatment is appropriate for APIs, file formats, communications protocols, and the like.
• nitrogen 10y ago
  Oracle claimed that their copyright covered "Sequence, Structure, and Organization."