I'm with others who say that an API should not be copyright-able, however it appears that in this case it doesn't matter. They may have a license! I haven't looked into it at all, but if it's true that Smartcar have implemented this API and distributed it under an MIT license, I think it will be really hard slogging to say, "We only meant to license some of the IP. We just gave a license and decided we'd wait until after the fact to tell people what it covered".

I am a huge advocate of free software, but it really bothers me when people license something without having any clue what it actually means. I can't tell you the number of projects I've encountered who say things like, "I put it under the GPL, but you can't sell it", or "I put it under an open source license, but you can't use any of the code; just look at it", or "I put this game under a free software license, but you can't use any of the story for the game because software licenses only cover code", or "I put my code in the public domain, but that doesn't mean you can make a few changes and claim that it's yours", etc, etc. If you want a "I'll tell you if it's ok after you've done it" license, don't grant a general license! Reserve all your rights and handle licencing on a case by case basis.

Moreover, the court ruling makes it seem that if the intent is interoperability, fair use may apply (only the court rules Google's intent was not interoperability, as their implementation was intentionally incompatible).

Although in this particular case, it appears they can claim copyright violation on the documentation.

[1]: Most notably, in order to be copyrightable, a work has to be "fixed in a tangible medium of expression" (https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/102), i.e. you need to have a specific text (or image) that you can say, this is the work (although then even derivatives are protected). This is true for APIs, but not for protocols (or REST "APIs"). Whether this distinction makes sense to programmers or not is irrelevant. The same distinction holds for programs vs. algorithms: programs are "fixed in a tangible medium", and are subject to copyright, but algorithms are not, and not subject to copyright (but can be protected by patents).

What exactly is Smartcar's product? Is it just the API design?

If so, I personally think this is in the same boat as that case, and I don't really see having the same API as copying either.

The wording of this is found everywhere on the internet. Just search for one of the phrases you find and you'll have plenty of matches: https://www.google.com/search?q=%22The+number+of+seconds+the...

I understand the frustration of the guy, but this is not like they copied the business API, this is just the standard Oauth.

Anyways.. I'm starting to sound like an Otonomo PR guys.. I'm not, it's just that reading this article, I found myself pondering whether my current employer could be sued for this kind of trickery. I wrote the Oauth2 code in our product, and found myself writing the exact same doc (probably with different words).