> If APIs can be copyrighted, then buyers now know that there's a single-source risk for any API that's not released under a permissive open source license.
Buyers won't be very motivated to care because they are consuming the original product, not competing with it. The first mover to release an API frequently has no interest in allowing compatible, competing offerings to exist. It's the second mover, the competition, that desperately wants to be compatible with the first offering, so that they can effectively compete for the business of the customer who bought the original product.
Buyers won't be very motivated to care because they are consuming the original product, not competing with it. The first mover to release an API frequently has no interest in allowing compatible, competing offerings to exist. It's the second mover, the competition, that desperately wants to be compatible with the first offering, so that they can effectively compete for the business of the customer who bought the original product.