[tgb]

Sorry I've forgotten what the status was on the "are APIs copyrightable" question, i.e. the Oracle v Google fight. I'm kind of confused about what wikipedia says happened - there seem to be two final rulings one in favor of Oracle and one in favor of Google with Oracle appealing the second. Is it that APIs are copyrightable but duplicating them is (sometimes?) covered under fair use? Either way, I'd be a little hesitant to use this.

[ktRolster]

APIs are copyrightable. You can see here: http://www.zerobugsandprogramfaster.net/essays/x-1.html

There is still a question on fair use. Google won the jury trial, but the appellate court is ruling in a few months, and that could change everything.

[gardnr]

The link that you provided is from May of 2016. AFAIK, Google won that case and the appeals and there are no ongoing appeals: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_America,_Inc._v._Google....

Oracle really has a way of being a big swinging legal turd, I do believe they would try anything they could. It just seems like they wouldn't wait a year to get it going.

[joatmon-snoo]

You are correct. (For the unfamiliar, there are separate rulings because in this case, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that APIs are copyrightable, then remanded back to the district court to re-try the case in light of the new decision about copyrightability, which then found that reimplementation of the API was covered under fair use.)

[auxbuss]

Only in the US. In the EU, in particular, APIs cannot be copyrighted[0].

Namely: "For the avoidance of doubt, it has to be made clear that only the expression of a computer program is protected and that ideas and principles which underlie any element of a program, including those which underlie its interfaces, are not protected by copyright under this Directive."

[0] http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:320...

[joatmon-snoo]

Whoops - sorry, yes, this is a very good point. I'm usually good at checking my own US-centric POV but I totally forgot here.