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APIs are not blueprints | 311 comments | Create New Account
Comments belong to whoever posts them. Please notify us of inappropriate comments.
They aren't the project metadata either
Authored by: Anonymous on Tuesday, April 17 2012 @ 04:03 AM EDT
APIs are more like the component catalog

32" interior door
36" exterior door
2x4 lumber
sheetrock
34"x36" double pane picture window

etc.

getting the list of APIs, just like getting the list of components that are in
the house, tell you nothing about the program (or the house). While you need to
know the components, what really matters is how they are arranged and used.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

APIs are not blueprints
Authored by: tknarr on Tuesday, April 17 2012 @ 11:59 AM EDT

Yes, you can copyright a specific blueprint. But you can't copyright a 12'x12' room on a blueprint and claim that any other blueprint with a 12'x12' room on it infringes on your copyright. Not even if the drawing of that second room is identical to yours (and it very well may be, standard symbology constrains exactly how things are drawn so if you have two draftsmen draw the same thing they're going to draw it pretty much the same way, building codes and common sense constrain where things like electrical outlets, windows and doors will be placed and so on).

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

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