I recently started visiting Magicvideo depot and sure enough the inevitable happened. Somebody IM'ing me about trading ebooks, tricks, and copies of video tapes. Not interested in my new coin effect, just commercial stuff. Some guts...

I, like most people, have spent a small fortune amassing a small amount of study material, videos and effects. Hard enough for hardworking magicians to make a decent living without this stuff going on. Or having their legacy cheapened by somebody who doesn't think its worth the extra money to actually buy something.

I'm like, yeah right, I just spent 50 bucks on a book so I can turn right around and share the secret that I just PAID to learn. Some people...

Dave

Dave,

This is the bad side of magic. Ignore them and they won't get what they want and will hopefully get out of magic altogether.

Dave

When people ask me for free ****, I think about how long I had to wait to be able to buy Martin Nash's "Charming Cheat" 5-volume set. I waited for about nine months before the wife gave in. Put me back a lot of dough for a beginner. I was DYING to know how he did the Infinity crimp and some other sleights, but I felt like I would be screwing over Martin by trying to get it "under the table".

Yep--had a magician about 2 years ago try to get me to let him copy all my videos, and he'd graciously 'make a copy for me' so I could sell the originals. Amazing.

When something like this happens, be sure to contact the person who owns the copyright. For example, if someone is offering a copy of a Michael Close video, contact Michael Close and let him know personally.

The owner of the copyright has the right to bring charges against anyone who is bootlegging.

A couple of years ago, I bought a tape on Ebay (which I thought was an original), but it was a poor copy that they didn't even try to disguise as an original. I contacted the performer on the tape about it. About two weeks later, the FBI showed up on my doorstep asking for the tape itself. It took me about another week to stop shaking!

Now that's the kind of reaction even the most unscrupulous magi would want had it been their own creation.

Pay originators what they ask. Some of the greats continue to create and provide us a great arsenal when dealing with an audience's hunger for entertainment.

Sure some aren't worth what they asked but they rarely survive amongst the magi's appetitie for usable tools.

I agree on telling the person who owns the copyright. Some magicians even offer a reward if you turn in someone like that!

I dispise people that do that to me, but really there isn't all much that you can do.

Oh no? Reread Jon Gallagher's post.

While being able to access magic on the Internet has been a great asset for many of us, there is of course the bad that comes along with the good..such is life I think.

In every profession there are the low life scum of the Earth who occasionally crawl out of their slime filled dens to try and take advantage of the hard work and efforts of others..magic is no different it would seem.

I have personally banned and reported several former Café members who were (are probably still somewhere else) engaged in the illegal activity of copying, selling and trading pirated tapes, vcds, dvds, ebooks, etc.

When I have given them the reasons for there swift exit from our magical community, their reactions are always filled with anger, resentment and a total ignorance of the situation that they themselves have caused. They just don't get it!

However, as a creator of magical effects myself, I refuse to stand by and do nothing. We must at some point draw the line and make a stand for what we know to be right and just. It is very unfortunate that doing so often causes eyebrows to raise in certain magical circles. So be it says I.

But alas, magic is filled with too many folks who think the world owes them a living. With the illogic that these people live by, it's okay to go and steal videos from the store while exclaiming; "If the creators would lower the prices I would gladly pay for this stuff". Yea, right. Car dealerships look out!

There, I feel better already.

Yeah, it's kinda like the healthy guy on the corner who asks for change instead of working for a living, and if you say no, he curses you out like you did something wrong...