Let me preface this by stating that I am not implying, nor ever would, that any of you pirate magic or look up magic tutorials on YouTube. I'm merely speaking out on the topic, one of which I'm very passionate.

Pirating is theft. There's no nicer way to say it, that's just the facts. If you go in search of a free download of a magician's instructional DVD or you scower YouTube for a tutorial of that new effect you saw, you're stealing from the artist. That artist often completely relies on the public purchasing his or her product. I'm not here to discuss the legal side of all of this, just the ethical side.

Five years ago I had my first commercial release, an ebook download called The Destiny Effect. I eventually discovered a magic exposure forum where members were openly sharing my ebook for free and discussing my method. I joined the forum just to ask them to remove it and, to my surprise, they actually did. But that whole incident bothered me. I didn't care about the fact that I 'lost some sales' because, the fact is, these people probably weren't going to buy my ebook anyway. I just felt it was a blatant disrespectful move against my work. They treated my method as something so disposable, or worthless.

I, however, am not making my living selling ebooks. What I AM doing right now is using that money to save for my post-secondary studies which are costing me more than I anticipated. But in terms of piracy, the biggest underlying issue for me comes from a standpoint of ethics. By downloading an album or movie for free, you are not supporting the artist you supposedly like, you are spitting in their face. On my iPod, every song and album has been purchased from the iTunes Store. I understand not everyone is in a financial position to be able to do that... which is where a typical counterargument comes in.

When debating the topic of piracy with magician friends, the inevitable argument they pose is: "So, you're saying because I don't have a lot of money that I can't learn magic?"

The fact is, there are PLENTY of ways to learn great magic on little to no money. Me personally, I'm on a really tight budget now that I'm attending theatre school and I truly do not have extra money to spend on magic. How do I get around this? Simple.

OPTION 1: THE LIBRARY

Public libraries always have at least a few magic books. Yes, some of them are beginner's books, but I even recommend going through those... you'll often find a hidden gem or two. Additionally, there have been a few times exploring a library where I have found magic books you typically wouldn't find available to the public. But they're there, just waiting for you to find them.


OPTION 2: CREATE YOUR OWN MAGIC

Creative mileage may vary, but it's a simple matter of sitting down with a deck of cards and working out your own methods and your own effects. Not only will you be able to do magic for free, but you could be doing stuff that no one else is doing.


OPTION 3: FREE MAGIC ONLINE

This stuff is literally everywhere. Many magicians release free videos, ebooks, and downloads of their magic, and it's 100% free and guilt-free to learn. Just look at Theory11's 'The Wire' and the amount of free downloads that are already available to you there.


OPTION 4: CONTESTS

These are also everywhere, and this is probably my favourite, and most-used, option. This way, you can not only get the latest and greatest magic, but even have fun trying to win it. This is no exaggeration: In the past year, I have won over $2000 worth of free magic. No kidding. Thing is, these contests are everywhere you look and you'd be surprised at how often you win. It's either the odds of winning are better than they seem, or I'm just ridiculously lucky. In any event, you can potentially win prizes worth hundreds of dollars for doing something as simple as answering a question or making a short YouTube video. So simple, and so awesome. Enter EVERY CONTEST YOU SEE, even if you don't think you have a chance of winning. Even enter if you don't think the effect/DVD/book is something you'll use... if you don't like it, you can always sell it and use the money you make from it to buy a magic product you really do want.

OPTION 5: PUBLIC DOMAIN MATERIAL

There is SO much magic out there in what is considered 'the public domain', meaning the material can be legally distributed for free. A prime example of this is perhaps the bible of card technique, The Expert at the Card Table by SW Erdnase. You can go download a copy for FREE right now and it's totally legal. That's just the tip of the iceberg, though. There are TONS of publications that are free to enjoy and learn from. Look up The Learned Pig Project for a large collection of such material.


There you have it. Four perfectly legitimate reasons why magic piracy is totally unnecessary. The only excuse someone has for pirating magic is laziness, and that's no way for a performer to be. Work hard, and keep your eyes peeled. There's magic everywhere just waiting for you to discover it, and you don't even have to open your wallet.

Michael-

Well, I have been up and down thru the years on some of your thoughts, but watching you mature is inspiring! I agree with you 100%, and add not a word because you have said it so well. I vote that this become a "sticky" so it is available for those who are pondering this issue so they can have some good direction. Well done!

Jim

I'm truly glad you appreciate my thoughts! I've been wanting to write them for a long time and finally got around to it.

I thought Marko shutdown The Learned Pig Project.

If he did, my mistake! I haven't been on in a while, I just assumed it was still around.

If you read the P&L book by Byron Walker you will learn that Petrie was complaining about people ripping his stuff off in the 1920s.
I have old Demon Davenport catalogs from the early 1900s and there is a notice in them about people stealing their material and manufacturing knockoffs without permission.
One of the prime reasons for the beginning of the Magic Dealers Association (MDA) in the 1940s was unscrupulous dealers who were selling knock offs and generally ripping people off.
Almost all early magic catalogs from the 1800s mention their products are exclusive and are not to be copied.
Stealing from others in the magic community is a given and is happening right now.

Michael, I steal all the time. I like stealing. It's fun and I get stuff for free. I haven't stolen your ebook yet, but that's only because I wasn't aware of it. As soon as I log off I'm gonna look for it and steal it, too.

As for your "options": fooey. I prefer stealing, so I'll continue to steal.

But thanks anyway.

The Unhinged Stone fellow has a point. Stealing is easier, quicker, and has that built in thrill, that extra something special that makes all the difference. Even if you can't use what you have stolen you still have the thrill of the steal. Fooey indeed.

I'm not at all implying that any of this is going to stop magic piracy. In fact, that's impossible. But, anything that can contribute to lessening the damage is, I feel, very beneficial.

So many argue that "piracy" is critical to advancing the craft.

Got a rebuttal?

Why try? You is what you is. A thief will always steal given the chance. The best one can hope for, is to find like minds and commiserate. People change little after the age of six or so- take them at face value and don't waste time trying to change them...

My point, Michael, is that I don't think your essay will contribute in any way whatsoever to lessening the damage. You offer "alternatives". That's like telling an alcoholic that there are plenty of soft drinks out there.

In my own not so humble opinion, your e-book is part of the problem. Why did you think--five years ago, no less!--that you had something so important, so creative, so craftsman-like, so worth-while to the magic community that it needed to be published--digitally, no less? That e-book contributed to the problem, not the solution. The problem is that secrets have become cheap. The problem is that young people want fame, glory, and money for college tuition by selling their "expertise" when they are neither craftsmen nor experts nor particularly creative. The problem is that young people are creating so much content that it is impossible to keep it strictly within the safety of the magic community. The problem is not that people watch "tutorials", but that people are making those tutorials in the first place. It's like a woman stripping in front of her window every night complaining about the voyeurs in her neighborhood.

Michael, I love you and want the best for you. But until you see that YOU and YOUR E-BOOK are part of the problem, you can never be part of the solution. You had no business trying to sell magic when you weren't even old enough to shave. You would have no business doing it now. If you need money for school, wait tables or pump gas (like I did). Or ask me to loan you money.

But before you make a post like this again, stop to think about WHO has provided all that digital material out there to be stolen. Stop to think about the average age of those who upload magic "tutorials". Stop to think why a serious problem exists today that didn't exist fifty years ago. What has changed? The technology? Or our attitude toward technology?

Michael, you ain't no philosopher yet, son.

But have a beer:

:stout:

Stone, what I offer isn't a solution, but merely a reponse to the most common argument that has been fired at me when debating the ethics behind pirating anything really, including magic. I don't expect my post to change anything... but this is a topic I've been passionate about and been wanting to write for a very long time.

I'm not sure if the same thing will, or even could, happen to magic, but consider this: A year ago, you could rent movies. Blockbuster Video was everywhere, at least in Canada. I would get into debates about piracy with my friends, and I told them that as it's continuing, it's inevitable that places will start to close up shop completely. At the time, even I thought it was a bit far-fetched... but lo and behold, not even a year later the entire Blockbuster chain is run into the ground. You're hard pressed to find movie rentals anywhere but iTunes now, and with that you have to watch the movie on your laptop or iPod unless you have an Apple TV. Netflix is also great, but those looking for new releases won't find them.

Will piracy vanish, or even diminish? Unlikely. But the proof is there... the effects are negative and they're already happening. Writing my initial post was not motivated by ego but rather by passion. Yes, by marketing material digitally, I am technically contributing to the problem... but non-digital products are easy to copy too. People can, and do, scan entire printed books into PDFs. They rip DVDs and turn them into MP4s. So, technically, EVERY magic producer is contributing to the problem. We can exempt those who create props that cannot be easily replicated, but any printed or video format is at risk.

Nice response, Michael.

With Stone, I must respectfully disagree. One can always blame the inventor, author, baker, etc. But it is really the recipient who runs the show. No audience - no remuneration, be it money, fame, hits, etc. Part of the problem? Perhaps. The cause of the problem? Unlikely...

Jim

I meant part of the problem, not the cause of the problem.

Remember my analogy of the woman stripping in the window? She is certainly not to blame for the males who are interested in seeing the naked female form. But by making it real easy to see a naked woman, she certainly isn't part of the solution to prevent voyeurism.

In the same way, once the younger generation decided to become the "tutorial generation", they contributed to the problem of piracy by devaluing both secrets and the teaching of secrets.

Michael and I go way back, and he knows I respect him and his opinion. But he had no business publishing an e-book at the age which he published it. I don't think he was a bad person for doing it. But the decision was immature and showed an immature understanding of the purpose of books, teaching, mentoring, secrets, and scholarship. But, you know, maybe he made a buck or two.

Remember the context of my comments: we are in the "Right or Wrong" forum. Michael complains about piracy. I am arguing that one reason for piracy is that we've made things too cheap. I think that his e-book is part of the cheapening of magic. So here--in the Right or Wrong forum--I'm encouraging him to do some self-examination before trying to teach us something.

Socrates--perhaps the greatest teacher of all time--started with examining himself. I just think it'd be way cool if Michael would follow his example.

Is the switch also the bait?

It takes some folks until they've had a product and some expectations of return to get to this point.

Perhaps some (or even most) others need go that same path?

Stoneunhinged,
You say your argument is that too much information has made secrets cheap. Sounds like you're just blaming the victim to me. It also seems like you are blaming Michael's age and experience. If he was 90 years old and a bastion of magic... would that have made a difference in your argument? It shouldn't.

Yes. Not the age part, but the "bastion of magic" part. An inexperienced 90-year-old publishing an e-book before he had mastered his craft would also be problematic. I happen to know that Michael is young, because we've been friends here (and on Facebook, too, BTW) for a few years now. But that wasn't the point of my argument.

However, if you want to call me out for making a stupid generalization that age and experience often correspond, I plead guilty.

What can I say? I often make stupid generalizations. I'm allowed. I'm stupid.

I'm listening...

:jump: