[Spivak]

I think it depends if you consider the part that was copied to be a standalone work. The fact that Google is able to create a separate implementation based only on the API design documents seems to suggest that it's a separate work that has meaning unto itself.

Would you make the same argument if you copied the entire forward from a novel?

[Dylan16807]

A foreword is a lot more substantial all by itself.

Imagine if they copied the index of a textbook. It's possible to create a complete and compatible textbook using only that structure, but very few people would call it a separate work that has meaning unto itself.

[mjw1007]

In that case I think I would try the argument. But if I were on the jury I wouldn't be thinking "there's no case here".

If I understand how appealing jury decisions works, it isn't going to be anywhere near good enough for Oracle to argue that a reasonable jury might have decided the other way.

[waqf]

Your argument begs the question. You might as well argue "The fact that you were able to write a new novel around the word 'the' that you copied from my novel seems to suggest that the word 'the' is a separate work that has meaning unto itself."