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Yet Google claims that the implementing code should be protected by copyright. How is "return a > b ? a : b;" not a method of operation if "public static int Ma

Yet Google claims that the implementing code should be protected by copyright. How is "return a > b ? a : b;" not a method of operation if "public static int Max(int a, int b)" is... If the implementation, CODE(!), is of course a formalized description of methods of operation, the declaring code (or API) is providing a means of access to it. Something that takes quite a bit of thought and creativity to do well.

mc808 11y ago
Neither one of those is substantial enough for copyright. They should be considered in the context of a whole body of work. Using books as an analogy, an API most closely resembles chapters and headings. Is it copyright infringement to write a new book that follows the same outline as a previous book? (I don't know...)
- shit_parade2 11y ago
  Spoiler: no it's not.
- ChairmanZach 11y ago
  Not only do APIs resemble the chapters and headings of a book, they aslo include the contract that the content under those headings have exactly the same behaviour. Google didn't just copy the "heading" java.lang.Math.max() they also copied the contract that calling this method should always return the bigger of the two arguments. Ergo, the "content" under the heading is the same, or rather the any differance between the content of Oracle's book and Google's book is irrelevant As any programmer knows, you code against interfaces not implementations. And if you don't realize that declaring those interfaces take both effort and creativity then you probably aren't a very good programmer.
  - Oletros 11y ago
    > Google didn't just copy the "heading" java.lang.Math.max() they also copied the contract that calling this method should always return the bigger of the two arguments. Irrelevant, the contract is not part of the trial
  - Ygg2 11y ago
    Sure, some interfaces took time to develop. But most are obvious from a simplistic use case. If any language has a function max that takes two integer values and doesn't return bigger, that language isn't worth bothering.
  - mc808 11y ago
    A heading in a book is just as much a contract about the content as a method signature is about the content of a method. It takes effort and creativity to produce a coherent outline for a book. And as any (competent) programmer knows, the "interface" in "code against interfaces not implementations" is merely a homonym of the "interface" in "application programming interface".
- username3 11y ago
  Search results resemble chapters and headings. Are search results protected by copyrights?
  - mc808 11y ago
    I would hope not but wouldn't be surprised if they are, at least in the presentation. The ranking and selection of snippets are original but ultimately machine-generated content, so I could see a court leaning either way.

mc808 11y ago

Neither one of those is substantial enough for copyright. They should be considered in the context of a whole body of work. Using books as an analogy, an API most closely resembles chapters and headings. Is it copyright infringement to write a new book that follows the same outline as a previous book? (I don't know...)

shit_parade2 11y ago
Spoiler: no it's not.
ChairmanZach 11y ago
Not only do APIs resemble the chapters and headings of a book, they aslo include the contract that the content under those headings have exactly the same behaviour. Google didn't just copy the "heading" java.lang.Math.max() they also copied the contract that calling this method should always return the bigger of the two arguments. Ergo, the "content" under the heading is the same, or rather the any differance between the content of Oracle's book and Google's book is irrelevant As any programmer knows, you code against interfaces not implementations. And if you don't realize that declaring those interfaces take both effort and creativity then you probably aren't a very good programmer.
- Oletros 11y ago
  > Google didn't just copy the "heading" java.lang.Math.max() they also copied the contract that calling this method should always return the bigger of the two arguments. Irrelevant, the contract is not part of the trial
- Ygg2 11y ago
  Sure, some interfaces took time to develop. But most are obvious from a simplistic use case. If any language has a function max that takes two integer values and doesn't return bigger, that language isn't worth bothering.
- mc808 11y ago
  A heading in a book is just as much a contract about the content as a method signature is about the content of a method. It takes effort and creativity to produce a coherent outline for a book. And as any (competent) programmer knows, the "interface" in "code against interfaces not implementations" is merely a homonym of the "interface" in "application programming interface".
username3 11y ago
Search results resemble chapters and headings. Are search results protected by copyrights?
- mc808 11y ago
  I would hope not but wouldn't be surprised if they are, at least in the presentation. The ranking and selection of snippets are original but ultimately machine-generated content, so I could see a court leaning either way.