People are confused about the differences between creativity and copyrights. Is API design work creative? Absolutely yes. Is all creative work copyrightable? No

People are confused about the differences between creativity and copyrights. Is API design work creative? Absolutely yes. Is all creative work copyrightable? Not necessarily. Copyrights have to be limited to very specific categories of use in order to make sure the interests are balanced between copyright holders and the general public. Compatibility at the interface level or format level is one such example. Same thing nobody should be able to copyright that a car has 4 wheels and 2-4 doors. Same thing nobody should be able to claim copyrights for poems with 14 lines.