Other than just wanting to be able to copy other people's work as they often do all the time anyway, I'm not sure I understand major tech giants' argument as to why APIs would not be copyrightable. They are, if anything, much harder to make well than their implementations.
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Not a lawyer, but I think you're confusing at least two different types of protectable intellectual property; what you're describing as "API" is more akin to algorithms, which may at most be patentable, not copyrightable.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_v._Oracle_America … "Oracle initiated the suit claiming that the APIs were copyrightable"
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I agree that the design of the API is more important than the implementation, but i think the practical consequences of copyrighting an API means less competition overall - A new database engine has a harder time if they're not allowed to provide some kind of SQL compatibility
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But that argument actually applies to all IP protection that currently exists for software, so I'm not sure why it should apply to APIs specifically? A new phone has a harder time if it doesn't copy Apple's UI. A new database has a harder time if it can't use a patented algo...
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