Why on Earth would this be better than just letting people copy APIs? Ignore whatever theoretical arguments: are you actually arguing in favor of a better world?
Yes, in my view people should not get to free ride on the labors of others. The ease of copying information belies the efforts required to produce quality information that is valuable, and so people think they have a right to freely copy whatever they can get. But there was a period in recent history when people thought this kind of thing was ok for physical labor, and the world largely agrees that was a bad time. I don't see why things should be any different for mental labor.