What Is the Copyright and Content History of Magic Times (mikemaginot.com)?
Updated
Magic Times carries a single, site-wide copyright line: "Magic Times Original Content Copyright 1999-2022, Mike Maginot." That notice covers the site's original writing and tells you the archive spans roughly 23 years of personal publishing by one author. The site also describes itself as "Blogging Before There Were Blogs," framing its material as original personal writing that predates the modern blog format.
What the Copyright Notice Covers
The notice is specific in two ways worth noting:
- "Original Content" — the claim is attached to Mike Maginot's own writing, not to any third-party material the site might reference or review.
- "1999-2022" — a continuous range rather than a single year, which is consistent with a long-running personal archive rather than a one-off publication.
The footer text appears alongside the site's navigation and channel links, so it functions as the blanket rights statement for the whole site. There is no separate per-page or per-section copyright language visible in the site's own description.
What the Content History Suggests
The 1999 start date and the "Blogging Before There Were Blogs" tagline together imply a few things about the archive:
| Signal | What it indicates |
|---|---|
| Copyright range starting 1999 | Material on the site may date back over two decades |
| "Blogging Before There Were Blogs" | The author presents the format as a precursor to modern blogging |
| Single named author | A personal, individually authored body of work rather than a group publication |
| Copyright end year 2022 | The stated claim runs through 2022; later material, if any, isn't covered by this line |
The site's navigation points to recurring categories — a journal, film and video views, film school notes, book reviews, presentations, and projects — which is the structure you'd expect from a long-running personal archive built up over years rather than a themed single-topic site.
Practical Takeaways
- If you want to quote or reproduce material, the notice identifies Mike Maginot as the rights holder and 1999–2022 as the claimed period. Treat the original writing as copyrighted and seek permission rather than assuming open use.
- If you're dating a piece, the copyright range gives you the outer bounds of the archive but not the date of any individual entry; the site's own description doesn't break the range down further.
- If you're checking whether the site is still active, the notice stops at 2022, so it doesn't by itself confirm publication after that year.
The copyright line and the "Blogging Before There Were Blogs" description are the two pieces of self-reported information the site gives about its own history; anything beyond that — exact posting dates, whether all sections are still updated — isn't stated in the site's own materials.