Chapter 1: Willy's Steamboat
It was New Year's Eve in Equestria. All across the land, various Ponies were attending parties, hanging out with friends and family, and getting ready to ring in the New Year. 2023 had been a hard year for many, but most were hoping that the next year, 2024, would be a lot better. Down in Ponyville, a lot of Ponies were out celebrating, and many of them, including Twilight Sparkle and her friends, were gathered at the Ponyville Clock Tower, eagerly watching as the minutes ticked down. Soon, it was 11:59pm, on December 31st, 2023, and a countdown had begun to the New Year.
"10......
9........
8........
7.......
6.......
5.......
4......
3......
2.......
1......."
Then the clock struck Midnight, and began to chime.
"HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!" Everypony cried.
Ponies were cheering loudly, confetti and streamers were shooting into the air (courtesy of Pinkie Pie), and fireworks were all going off as well. However, in the midst of all the cheering, from the direction of the Applish River, another sound could be heard. It sounded like a series of 3 loud whistles, like those from a boat. At first, everypony just thought that it was because of the New Year's Celebration, but then they whistles sounded like they were getting closer, and were accompanied by a loud chugging sound, and the sounds of splashing.
The Ponies were confused. There weren't supposed to be any boats out on the river at this time of night, or at least, any scheduled ones, but now it sounded like one was coming down the river, and would soon be passing Ponyville, whistling quite a lot. Confused, Twilight and her friends went to the bank of the Applish River to investigate the source of the commotion.
"What do you think it is, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.
"I'm not sure, Fluttershy."
"I think it's somepony who just got a bit too excited for New Year's." Pinkie added.
"Maybe it's a group of Ponies out for a New Years Eve cruise on a private boat?" Rarity wondered.
"What's with all the whistling though? It's already almost 10 minutes past Midnight."
"I dunno, Rainbow Dash. Maybe they had a little bit too much ta drink." Applejack finished.
However, before the Ponies could say anything else, from around a bend in the river, lit up by the light of the full moon, various lights near the river's shoreline, and on the incoming object itself, a steamboat came chugging into view.
It was smaller than the ones used to carry passengers, and was quickly identified as one used to carry cargo. It had 2 side-paddlewheels, a tall pilothouse, and 2 smokestacks were belching out black smoke. The boat was also painted all white, with a black hull, and black smokestacks. As it came into view, Twilight and Co recognized it as the SS Willie, a retired cargo steamboat now owned by Ponyville's resident Human, a young man named William "Willy" Brown. As the steamboat began to sail past where the Mane 6 were standing, a white flag with a black wolf's head could be seen flying from the steamboat's bow, and up in the pilothouse, the 6 mares also saw the man himself steering the steamboat, but he was wearing some kind of costume. From what they could see, he was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt, black gloves, black pants, a pair of white shorts over those black pants with a long, thin tail coming out the back of them, white shoes, some kind of black and white mouse mask, and a steamboat captain's hat was on his head. He was also whistling "Steamboat Bill" as he steered his steamboat.
"What in tarnation?!" Applejack said in confusion.
After staring for a few moments, a wave of realization hit Twilight, and she put a hoof over her face. "Do you Girls know what this is?"
Before any of the other mares could respond, Willy spotted them standing on the shoreline, and blew the steamboat's 3 whistles again.
"Happy New Years, Girls! And Happy Steamboat Willie Day too!"
At this moment, Willy's black cat, named Mickey, who seemed to be dressed in a small pair of white overalls, and a cat-sized steamboat captain's hat jumped up into view, perched on the left windowsill of the steamboat's pilothouse, and began licking one of his paws.
"'Steamboat Willie Day'? What's that?" Pinkie Pie asked.
Twilight sighed. "It's the whole reason he's dressed up like that, and out on the river tonight, Girls. At Midnight tonight, the copyright to the original 1928 Disney Cartoon, 'Steamboat Willie', and all characters in it, entered the Public Domain for the first time in 96 years."
"And that's what Willy's celebrating?"
"Yepperoni!" Willy called, blowing the whistles again. "Disney was unable to renew the copyright for a 3rd time, and it entered the Public Domain. Now Mickey Mouse (the original one as he appeared in 'Steamboat Willie') can be used by anyone, for anything!"
"Even horror movies and scary games?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Oh yes. 2 horror movies and a scary game featuring Steamboat Willie Mickey Mouse were just announced after it became Public Domain."
"Huh. I never would have thought it."
The Mane 6 all continued to talk about this among themselves for a while longer, but pretty soon though, the SS Willie sailed on into the night, still whistling, and making a racket. For a while, they thought that Willy was going to stop soon, but when the SS Willie reached Podunk Landing, Willy simply turned the steamboat around, and started steaming back upriver; a loop he'd been making for several hours before the New Year began, but silently, as the copyright hadn't yet expired. However, by about 4am, Willy showed no signs of stopping, though now the steamboat's whistling had been replaced by music; "Turkey in the Straw". Finally though, the Mane 6 had had enough of Willy's antics, and thanks to Twilight teleporting them all onto the steamboat, they all began to fan out to stop the steamboat, and put an end to the racket.
All around the steamboat's deckhouse, various posters for "Steamboat Willie" were put up, and collection of statues littered the deck. There was a cow, 2 chickens, a goose, a cat, a parrot, and a pig with piglets.
"He certainly went all out with this, didn't he Twilight?"
"Yes, he certainly did, Pinkie Pie."
At this moment though, Twilight then found the source of the music; it was a large calliope shaped like a goat, with a mannequin of a female mouse turning its crank-handle. She then blasted the calliope with a silencing spell, while at the same time, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were below decks putting out the fires in the SS Willie's boilers, and stopping the engines.
"Aww, come on guys, you ruined the fun!" Willy called down to them as he looked out of the pilothouse.
"It's 4 in the morning, Willy!" Twilight called back. "Show's over!"
"Are you sure about that?" He said, seemingly trying to lead into a joke.
Twilight then used her Magic to pick up the SS Willie from out of the water, lift the whole steamboat into the air, and then dump it onto the sandy shore of Podunk Landing, completely out of the water.
"VERY!" She said with clenched teeth. She then exited the steamboat via the gangplank, followed closely by Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and then Applejack and Rainbow Dash when they finished up below decks.
Willy then climbed down onto the main deck, where he realized that his steamboat was completely beached, and was a good 20 feet away from the water's edge.
"What the?! Hey! You can't just dump my boat onto the shore and then leave! Help me get it back into the water!"
"Ask me after I've had a good night's sleep!" Twilight shot back.
"Come on, Girls! Help me out here!"
"Okie dokie Loki! Tomorrow!" Pinkie called back.
The Mane 6 then walked away from Podunk Landing, leaving Willy behind stamping and cursing up a storm, though he soon tired himself out, and sat down on the deck with Mickey in his lap.
"Oh boy. Maybe I did go a little bit overboard. But it was all in good fun, right?"
As if in response to his question, a scroll magically appeared in his hands, with the words, "From the Walt Disney Company" on it. Willy opened the scroll, only to learn that he was being slapped with a hefty fine for alleged "Copyright Infringement", as well as being told to immediately "Cease and Desist".
"Oh, SON OF A.........!!!!!!"
THE END
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11794669
Hello Skyblazer9,
And I'm glad that this story gave you a good laugh
11794683
Hello back to you too. :)
Thanks.
11794688
You're welcome. And is it just me, or does it say that this story has 0 views? If it's not just me, is that because the story's brand-new? I haven't seen a story not have any views, despite being given Likes, and having been read
Edit: Never mind. I guess after an hour or so, the views appear
I don't think Disney can enforced their legal stuffs in anotherworld if they can't even stop bootleg toys and pirated movies sites in ours.
Anyway, waiting for that steamboat willy horror movie:)
11794763
Hello hmad43,
And they still try. They hit a few creators with copyright violations over using "Steamboat Willie" in their works after it became Public Domain, which is what I referenced with this joke
And which one, there's 2? "Mickey's Mousetrap", and one other that doesn't have a title yet, but's going to involve Mickey (as Steamboat Willie) stalking passengers on a NYC Ferry. ("Mickey's Mousetrap is going to be a disaster. I watched the trailer, and it made "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey" look good by comparison)
11794780
Because those creators sold their stuffs on big social media sites that enforce western laws.
Chinese ecommerce sell unlicensed disney mercs. It's near impossible to find real stuffs(toys watches, clothes,) in southeast asia/india flea markets.
The goverments of non-developed countries still used pirated window with cracked adobe suit.
If Equestrian goverment is smart. Then they will loosely enforce those laws until they become a developed country(post industrialized, big economy, military industrial complex) like UK, US, and currently China.
11794810
That, or the bots that enforce Copyrights haven't been updated yet. And not just Disney merch, China has unlicensed copies of just about everything, from every brand, and always for a much lower price than the real stuff too. The website AliExpress.com is pretty much an international market to sell unlicensed Chinese knockoffs of everything, and at a fraction of the price
great story mate keep it up cant wait for the next story i like to think that Walt Disney is the grandfather of Kingdom Hearts
11794829
Hello Shining Paladin,
And thanks. I'm glad that you liked the story
And I still find it amazing that Walt Disney got his start in downtown Kansas City, my hometown. However, this video forgot one important part. Walt Disney was scared of mice, but the building in Kansas City where he and Ub worked was full of them. However, one little mouse was different. It seemed almost friendly, and Walt slowly overcame his fear, and fed the little mouse crumbs from his desk. And it was this little mouse that gave Walt the idea for Mickey Mouse. That's how he got the idea, and then Ub brought him to life in animation for "Steamboat Willie"
This is great! STRAIGHT TO ME FAVORITES!!!
11794925
Hello Ellery Quinn,
And I'm glad you liked the story
As a person who kept bragging to my co-workers about this, I think my behavior resembled Willy's too much.
I can't wait for MLP to enter the public domain in...(looks up copyright)
70 years after the death of the author? FOR WORKS CREATED AFTER 1978?! Will any of us be alive when the copyright expires?
11795204
Hello redandready45,
And I seriously doubt it. Assuming that, for whatever reason, Lauren Faust died this year, 78 years from now, I'd be 104 years old; far too old and senile to create anything with MLP. But, since Lauren Faust is still alive and well, each year she stays alive, that 78 year counter resets itself. So no, I highly doubt that any of us will be alive to see MLP FIM enter the Public Domain. However, we might live long enough to see Gen 1 MLP enter the Public Domain, as that came out in the early 80's, over 40 years ago now
11795237
Ehh...
I hope that as more stuff enters the public domain and the benefits of the public domain become more apparent, it might encourage Congress to roll back the length of copyright or encourage authors to willingly allow their works to go free.
A couple of Republicans have made policy proposals about reducing copyright, but maybe I am getting my hopes up.
11795204
The life plus 70 years is for individual authors and such. Since mlp is a work for hire it’s 95 years from publication date.
11795330
So are corporate works still covered under the 95 year rule, even after 1978?
11795331
That’s what I understood. 120 years for UNpublished works and 95 for published.
11795339
So would Transformers, which first premiered in 1984, enter the public domain in 2080?
11795331
Generally speaking in the us most corporations have an agreement with artists stating that the corporation is the copyright holder and not the individual artist. That changes only if the artist in question is an independent contractor and not an employee but then it becomes a job for an actual lawyer.
11795341
Oh yes I believe so.
11795239
They need to roll it back to what it was originally; 56 years after publication, with the potential for 1 extension if the circumstances are right
11795370
No, before 1976, it was 28 years, plus another 28 if you apply for renewal.
A series of articles by Jennifer Jenkins of Duke University points out damaging these copyright laws were: stuff from the 1960s, and unrenewed copyrights from the late 1980s could've entered the public domain.
But can you pass a law that retroactively brings that stuff into copyright? Or would trying to return works from the 1930s and the 1960s result in a legal dispute over property rights?
11795373
Oh. When "Steamboat Willie" was becoming Public Domain, I saw a few different YouTube videos on Copyright Law, and Public Domain, and I could have sworn that originally, copyrights were good for 56 years before the work would enter Public Domain, but I guess that that was assuming it was granted the extra 28-year extension.
And these are very good questions. Honestly though, I have no idea, as I'm not a lawyer
hehe public domain for the win :)
11795500
Hello 6-D Pegasus,
And yeah, you're right