And the fairy that is called Tinkerbell said, come and see. And I saw, and behold, a Mouse with large black ears. And the name that said on him was Mirth. And Joy followed with him.
And to those who may feel anxious about the coming year, I say unto thee, fear not. Whatever your concerns for the fate of the world—however well-founded—take comfort. For a new era begins at Midnight on the first day of the year 2024. Of course, I speak not of the Lamb of Revelations, but of the Mouse of Disney, and the day when the Copyright seal will be broken, and Mickey, in the form of Steamboat Willie, will rise (not fall) into the Public Domain. Rejoice! Let the Angels sound their trumpets! For the Age of the Mouse is upon us. And Mankind shall be saved.
But perhaps you think I exaggerate. Verily, you say, the passing of a cartoon character out of Copyright cannot bring about an era of new enlightenment and goodwill. Indeed, I was tempted to believe as you do. But like most Men of ordinary sense, I was not blessed with the vision of the Prophets—those sages, who read from the Book of Lessig, and proclaim that since the year 1998, Man has robbed himself of his own Culture, keeping the most sacred expressions in a Babylonian bondage called the Copyright Term Extension Act. Yea, though the Prophets bore false witness and beguiled the People, saying that the Act of Sonny Bono and the other Philistines was made unto law for the wicked purpose of keeping the Mouse in bondage, let us not quibble over the petty facts of History.
For on this New Year’s Day, the Mouse shall be set free, and the People will speak His name, and he shall say unto the first of his Disciples, Come on, Pluto! And Pluto will go on. He will follow the Mouse. And more Disciples will come and see. And the People will see and hear. And again, the Mouse will say, Come on! And the People will go on. For the Mouse shall then belong to all the People. Or at least, in a limited sense, this will be so.
And the days of the New Year, and all the years that follow, shall be known as the era of Mickey Remix. And the Remix will sweep across the Earth as like a gentle breeze, and Man shall come to know his own folly, and he shall be as though reborn. He will lay down the arms of war and abandon the politics of hate. And reason, compassion, and knowledge will, at last, be the hallmarks of civilization. Verily, these things must come to pass. For if the events foretold do not transpire with the ascension of the Mouse to the Public Domain, then the Prophets are indeed false and deserving of scorn.
If the Mouse merely passes into the realm beyond the copyright term, and Man remains in the same state of ignorance and peril as on this day, then it shall be known that the Prophets are deceivers. If on the second day of the New Year, and all the days that follow, Man is much the same as before, then the Prophets have dissembled and have wasted more than twenty-five times three hundred sixty-five days peddling mere trivia as wisdom. We shall know soon. For the day of reckoning is nigh. The grace of the Mouse be with you all.
