I don’t disagree with you but I think there’s another angle to the discussion that involves the difference between the litigious capacity of corporations vs ind

I don’t disagree with you but I think there’s another angle to the discussion that involves the difference between the litigious capacity of corporations vs individuals to defend the simple kind of creations you describe, as I think corporations have defended (and even patented) very simple patterns before. For what it’s worth, I wish the approach was as you describe but in all cases: make it impossible to defend attribution of basic building blocks regardless of how deep your pockets are.