> And if you're in the camp that believes APIs should not be protected, this precedent--if it stands--means that you'll have to shoulder the expense of going to trial on the fair use issue before winning on the merits.

worth remembering that since that decision was made by the Federal Circuit, it has no bearing on the rest of the court system when it comes to copyright. There is no place where "APIs are copyrightable" is binding precedent.

Any lawsuits that don't end up in the Federal Circuit (which pure copyright suits never do) will have to start from "are APIs copyrightable?" before having to make any sort of fair use defense.