[Discuss] can you copyright an API?

[blu at nedharvey.com (Edward Ned Harvey)]

> From: discuss-bounces+blu=nedharvey.com at blu.org [mailto:discuss-
> bounces+blu=nedharvey.com at blu.org] On Behalf Of Tom Metro
> 
> one would expect the volume of alleged stolen code to have a bearing
> on the size of the damages. 

I think it's not so much the *volume* of alleged stolen code that matters,
as the *value* of alleged stolen code.

Why does a case like this go to court at all?  One reason, and one reason
only.  The two parties couldn't negotiate agreeable terms for settlement.
Is it possible that Oracle simply demanded massive quantities of cash, plus
ongoing license terms?  Yeah, that's possible, perhaps even likely.  Is it
possible that Google demanded a one-time settlement of a tiny dollar figure,
or simply outright refused to pay more than $0?  Yeah, that's also possible,
albeit less likely.  (Google might behave that way if they feel the legal
precedent would risk something of a larger stake..   And if google felt
reasonably confident they could win this case... Neither of which seems very
likely.)

Suppose hypothetically for a moment, that google doesn't believe they've got
a strong defense.  Why might they refuse to accept terms?  Google would take
this to court if they felt they would get a more favorable settlement by
judge or jury, instead of settling directly with oracle.

As you said, 9 lines out of 9000, or whatever.  And as I said - all google
has to do is transliterate some words with other words in order to avoid
future copyright infringement.  I think google's damages this way are likely
to be smaller than the alternative.  More likely a one-time small dollar
figure, rather than a large figure plus ongoing license fees.

They can't make it illegal to translate one language into another.  They
also can't make it illegal to invent a new language that is "too easy" to
translate into a specific other language, unless they get really specific
about how to define "too easy."  Which is a task beyond the interest or
means, I suspect, of the legislature.