The Office just went back in time.

When Joe Sabia decided to advocate for copyright reform, he didn’t head to change.org or make a preachy video that ultimately no one would watch.

Instead, he archived every single cultural reference on the show The Office, and then categorized them chronologically. His interactive website, The Office Time Machine, allows you to choose the year you wish to go back to.

On his website Sabia states, “I created this project to advocate for copyright reform and highlight the importance of fair use in protecting creators and their art. To prove culture is not only everywhere, but that certain references to films, songs, and works of art are critical for our collective understanding of comedy and to the importance of relating to content, I found every cultural, real-life reference from every episode of The Office.”

And when Sabia says “every cultural real-life reference,” he means it. The archival includes about 1300 references, begins at year 0, and continues all the way until 2012, and beyond.

Sabia brings up some interesting points about copyright laws, and how they should be adjusted in our changing times. This isn’t the first time he’s used copyright protected footage to create something awesome, and this isn’t the first time we’ve watched.

Sabia created the first interactive photo hunt on YouTube, a 7-minute Sopranos refresher, Betting Bad, and corrected the Google Wave demo embarrassment.