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If APIs were copyrightable there would be no Wintel machines... IBM would have killed Compaq for daring to build a clean room BIOS. Logically I can't see why a
by jlawer 15y ago
If APIs were copyrightable there would be no Wintel machines... IBM would have killed Compaq for daring to build a clean room BIOS.
Logically I can't see why an API should get copyright protections. By its definition it is a interface, and the moment you start allowing restrictions on implementing an interface your killing competition. It seems that in almost ever other field fair use has decided that whatever is required for compatibility is not copyrightable.
That said my beliefs and the law can at times be completely different things...
- fromhet 15y agoIsn't it the same with the software patents they have in the US?
- taligent 15y agoI don't see why existing anti-competition laws would suddenly disappear if an API was copyrightable ? And your argument about Wintel machines is actually backwards. Because if APIs were copyrightable there would be MORE competition in that circumstance. Due to less standards. I am actually in favour of having standards organisations take a greater role in pushing real standards rather than de-facto ones.
- regularfry 15y agoThe best standards are those which have been taken from real-world implementations. In other words, the way you get a good standard is to ratify a de facto one.