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I think we can all agree that copyrighteable APIs will be really crappy.

• taligent 15y ago
  I disagree. If it results in companies actually spending the time to design better APIs I would absolutely support them being copyrighted. Millions/billions of dollars is wasted each year because of terribly designed APIs. And I am a massive fan of a future where every system (internal and external) has a clean, interoperable API to build next-generation mashups. But right now that is a pipe dream.
  • rictic 15y ago
    Would this mean that it would be dangerous to read API documentation for potential competitors? Would it mean that you'd be in danger of violating copyright if you implemented a compatible implementation of someone else's API? Would it mean that you could get a copyright on an API that you designed but never implemented? The argument as I read it seemed to be attempting to assert that implementing an API was a derivative work of that API's documentation. It's hard to imagine the second and third order effects of such a change in the understanding of law around software. I'm trying not to be just change averse and actually imagining what that world would look like, but damn it's hard.