Comment by TeeDub | Hacker News Reader

Comment by TeeDub | Hacker News Reader

So, I understand that FOSS is great and we all want more open software because there are tangible benefits to working with open software.

I'm less clear on why API's shouldn't be copyrightable. An API isn't just a few lines of code. It's often an intense creative endeavor that ultimately represents a very specific (sometimes innovative) way of looking at the world. Sometimes, those views are uniquely terrible or uniquely elegant... but what's clear is that they are not "natural" in the way that a mathematical equation or physical law may be. It's clearly an act of creation, at least in my mind.

With that in mind... What are the best reasons to deny copyrights to API authors in a legal system that allows writers (who create intense creative endeavors representative of very specific and often innovative ways of looking at the world) copyright protections?

(Mind: I'm not against reforming said legal system; however, given the status quo, I'm not convinced about the differentiation between an API and a written work as creative (and copyrightable) works.)

(Disclaimer: I'm a huge fan of open source and being as "free" as possible. I love Creative Commons and fiercely enjoy the freedoms that FOSS can provide to developers and consumers. I think that API's are something that should be open rather than closed, but I don't think that means that all API's MUST be copyleft / public domain.)

Because APIs are more functional than creative.

Imagine an Array class. How many names can you come up with for: "number of elements in an array"? Count(), Size(), Len(), Length(). Those are 4 common names.

Now imagine a system where you can copyright those names. The first 4 people who use those obvious, functional names get a monopoly on their use because that's what copyright is: a government granted monopoly.

We have hundreds of languages, and many languages have multiple Array classes.

Can you see how such system would destroy our ability to write understandable code?

An API is a very small part of the overall code.

If you want to compare this to writers: code is the novel and it does get copyright protection, just like a novel.

API name is like a chapter name and just like Melville doesn't get copyright (i.e. exclusive use) of "Loomings", a programmer shouldn't get a an exclusive use of Array.Count().

Just as I can copyright a work such as a novel that contains the word "Count" even though I might not be able to copyright an isolated sentence containing it, I think there's a good argument that something like the Java standard library API hangs together and should be subject to copyright even if a single method signature would not.

Copyright covers only the expression. For example, in a C program, the header files can be copyrighted. I think it's pretty fair to argue that Sun can copyright their expression of an API. However, you cannot copyright facts. I would argue that the array class having a sort method is a fact. And therefore I should be able to create my own expression of that fact.

Copyright does not cover ideas and information themselves, only the form or manner in which they are expressed. The argument is the implementation of an API is the expression but the API is merely something akin to the table of contents. It's a description of the thing but it isn't the thing itself. This view seems pretty logical to me.

It doesn't necessarily matter that something is an act of creation -- nearly everything is -- that is necessary for copyright but it isn't sufficient. Your assumption is that any intellectual exercise, no matter have trivial or damaging to the commons, deserves protection. But that is neither the spirit or the letter of the law.

Also, this really doesn't have anything to do with open source and everything to do with interoperability. Open or closed source, copyrights on APIs would lock out entire classes of software that we take for granted every day.

For the same reason Joeseph Campbell doen't get to claim ownership of Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and every other hero quest story.

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