I am surprised that Google's legal team would forward such lame arguments. There are much better lawyers out there with a much stronger ability to convey complex topics to non-technical people in a way that illustrates the point under consideration.
Well I found Justice Breyer's argument, in the article, which compared APIs to the QWERTY layout of keyboards much better than Googles.
Imagine if you copyrighted the six sided bolt head? Or the TORX screw. Making screw drivers or wrenches that loosened or tightened them would be copyrightable. How about copyrighting which side of the street people drive on, or the width of driving lanes. Do we get to charge a "usage fee" for cars that adhere to the lanes available on freeways?
