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As a matter of public policy, I agree that the specification should not receive protection, but under the law as written by Congress, it does. Thomas's dissent is correct.

My comment is about process, not policy.

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Under the law, they do not receive protection.

See Baker v. Selden, which despite it's age is still good law.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baker_v._Selden

No. Baker v. Selden does not settle the question of APIs and fair use. That is why the Google v Oracle case made it to the Supreme Court.

It does say that the facts of a traditional print formatting specification (ie. the specific subtopic we're talking about) is not granted copyright protections.

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