Editing End Poem (section)

== Copyright status ==
Gough was reluctant to include the line "The Universe said I love you because you are love"{{efn|Misquoted in Gough's essay as "The universe loves you because you are love"<ref name="gough-2022" />}} because he did not believe it at the time; however, after two [[psilocybin]] trips near [[Apeldoorn]], Netherlands, he stated that he realized that he had been hiding from the love that fans had expressed for the poem and that he had to "complete the circuit" and "accept, and act on" that line of the poem.<ref name="gough-2022" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Gault |first1=Matthew |date=2022-12-08 |title=Guy Who Wrote ''Minecraft''{{'}}s Ending Poem Makes It Public Domain After Taking Shrooms |language=en |work=[[Vice News]] |department=Motherboard |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7gn3q/guy-who-wrote-minecrafts-ending-poem-makes-it-public-domain-after-taking-shrooms |access-date=2 May 2023 |archive-date=2 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502010809/https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7gn3q/guy-who-wrote-minecrafts-ending-poem-makes-it-public-domain-after-taking-shrooms |url-status=live }}</ref>

In a December 2022 post on his [[Substack]] blog, ''The Egg and the Rock'', Gough wrote that he had never signed any contract with Persson's [[Mojang Studios]] over the poem, rather relying on an informal agreement that Mojang could use it in the existing [[Windows]] and [[OS X]] versions of the game.<ref name="litchfield"/><ref name="gough-2022" /> He said that he was paid €20,000 ({{inflation|EU|20,000|2011|fmt=eq|cursign=€}}) and corresponded with Mojang managing director Carl Manneh about signing a formal agreement, but did not reach any prior to Mojang's sale to [[Microsoft]] in 2014.<ref name="litchfield">{{cite web |last1=Litchfield |first1=Ted |title=The writer of ''Minecraft''{{'}}s ending poem wants to 'liberate it from the corporate economy' |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/the-writer-of-minecrafts-ending-poem-wants-to-liberate-it-from-the-corporate-economy/ |website=[[PC Gamer]] |access-date=2 May 2023 |language=en |date=12 December 2022 |archive-date=11 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211223315/https://www.pcgamer.com/the-writer-of-minecrafts-ending-poem-wants-to-liberate-it-from-the-corporate-economy/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The full legal implications of the resulting situation were unclear,<ref name="litchfield" /> and Gough wrote that he did not wish to have any legal dispute with Microsoft.<ref name="gough-2022" /> Explaining his psilocybin-induced realization, he then placed the poem (specifically [[s:End Poem|the version he had sent Persson]]) into the [[public domain]] using a [[CC0]] dedication.<ref name="moloney" />

Microsoft did not respond to press inquiries about Gough's blog post, which Gough alleges led an unnamed global news organisation to "los[e] their nerve" about running a piece that would have confirmed his narrative. Jez Corden of ''[[Windows Central]]'' expressed scepticism that a lack of comment would have exerted any pressure on such an organisation.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Corden |first1=Jez |title=Did Microsoft scare the media into not covering ''Minecraft''{{'}}s 'The End' copyright drama? |url=https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/xbox/did-microsoft-scare-the-media-into-not-covering-minecrafts-the-end-copyright-drama |access-date=12 May 2023 |work=[[Windows Central]] |publisher=[[Future plc]] |date=8 January 2023 |language=en |archive-date=11 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211223314/https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/xbox/did-microsoft-scare-the-media-into-not-covering-minecrafts-the-end-copyright-drama |url-status=live }} Citing: {{cite tweet |number=1611031552472793089 |last=Gough |first=Julian |authorlink=Julian Gough |user=juliangough |title=Hmmm. I just had a bizarre experience, involving a global news organisation and a trillion dollar corporation.}}</ref> Sean Hollister of ''[[The Verge]]'' speculated that the obstacle for news organisations was the difficulty of verifying that Gough had never signed a contract.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hollister |first1=Sean |title=Microsoft doesn't own the rights to ''Minecraft''{{'}}s ending—no one does, its author claims |url=https://www.theverge.com/23542539/minecraft-end-poem-julian-gough-microsoft-mojang-no-contract-public-domain |access-date=20 June 2023 |work=[[The Verge]] |date=6 January 2023 |archive-date=30 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330220304/https://www.theverge.com/23542539/minecraft-end-poem-julian-gough-microsoft-mojang-no-contract-public-domain |url-status=live }}</ref>