[License-discuss] Copyright on APIs

[VanL]

Hi Bruce,

On Tue, Jul 2, 2019 at 12:16 PM Bruce Perens via License-discuss <
license-discuss at lists.opensource.org> wrote:

> On Tue, Jul 2, 2019 at 8:26 AM VanL <van.lindberg at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> As argued  by the FSF FAQ <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.en.html>,
>> the inclusion of *any* code element from a copylefted source makes the
>> entire work a derived work.
>>
>
> At the same time, they lay no claim to an independently developed
> implementation of an API. You can discuss with them their legal position in
> greater detail, but they aren't asserting *API *copyrights as the
> mechanism here.
>
> <http://lists.opensource.org/mailman/listinfo/license-discuss_lists.opensource.org>


The question is relative to "what is the API."

Let's assume for a moment that 1) APIs are copyrightable, and 2) I have an
"expressive" API (for whatever value of "expressive" you choose). If I
write a reimplementation that copies the "expressive" elements from your
API, are you arguing that I have *not* created a derivative work?

Thanks,
Van
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