Interfaces and Interoperability After Google v. Oracle

Abstract

We address an important issue the Supreme Court left unaddressed this spring in its blockbuster Google v. Oracle decision: are computer interfaces copyrightable at all? We argue that they aren’t, and that the Federal Circuit's decision to the contrary is an aberration that should not undermine a quarter century of consensus on the importance of interoperability and open APIs. In our view, denying copyright protection for APIs and encouraging interoperability is important not only for innovation in the software world but for restoring competition to a technology industry dominated by a few incumbent firms.

Keywords: copyright, software, APIs, interoperability, antitrust