As we know its extremely common in magic for people to copy other peoples material or even complete acts and present them without the authors permission.

This was also quite common in Finland and it got really really bad... Magic conventions had people with notepads, writing down jokes, funny lines and routines and ideas from other people. In the end this also started to affect people partisipating conventions because no one wanted to do their "own A material" anymore... It just would got stolen... Also laymen and customers of pros started to notice this... "Why all magicians are alike" "Why do they all do same things and same jokes"

So things were really getting out of hand and it country with barely 5 million people we coudnt afford that.

So maybe as the first country in the world the magicians in finland made agreement that stated that anyone signing it would promise that they wont steal or use without permision jokes, routines, part of routines, part of acts and so on that are in any way regonizeable as someone elses material. So if something isn't published, you simply cant use it or if something is known to be someone elses signerature material you cant use it without clear permission to do so.

Of course, magicians lie, cheat and steal and even sell their own mothers if it profits them So we got also many show companies and agencies into the deal. This way if one wants to be a professional magician or even perform seriously in finland then he pretty much has to sign the contract. For instance people who havent signed it arent allowed to compete in Finnish magicians congress or competition and show companies that have signed the deal also wont sell their act to any company or firm and so on.

So far the list is around year old and it has 175 names. Pretty much all finnish working performers are in it and it has worked at least partially. Copycatting isn't as bad anymore, people are getting more creative and so on... It might not be the final and best solution, but at least it is a start. It is also partially backed up by both big finnish magic societies.

I was wondering is there any other country in the world that has developed anything similar? I know that at least IBM, SAM and FISM don't give a d*mn about it although they should...

Juha-Matti

Ps The list and agreement can be seen http://asiakas.skdata.fi/taikaweb/sopimus/ But they are in finnish

Great idea.

Truly is! And the important side benefit, as you pointed out, is new and better material for the audiences. Let's hope this takes off. Well, there is always hope...

As a friend once shared with me, this has been going on for decades. Magicians have been stealing from each other since the dawn of time. No one likes it, but it's as common as a rabbit in a hat.

The magic world has always been a dog eat dog world. One could bring up ethics, but whoever said magicians had ethics? (lol) They create them, but only few actually try to live by them.

I have been having this discussion lately with a friend who is a retired magician. He has come down to visit me for the long weekend. He is full of wonderful tales of how things used to be, and how things haven't changed much today. he says that the only difference is that magicians have got more clever at stealing.

He put it to me something like this. For example; at one time someone would steal a Porsche, then drive around in it. Now-a-days, they steal a Porsche and a Corvette, use the parts to build a better looking Corvette, and say they created a new car.
:)

I'm not condoning these people, but I think you would have to change a lot if you wanted to fix the problem. It might just be easier to not perform for other magicians, and if a magician steals your routine, create another one. Or, make your routine better. Stay ontop of your game. Don't get too comfortable. Keep improving, and keep getting better.

You can be imitated, but you can never be duplicated. If you don't stay on top of your game, the imitator might end up being a better you.