Saw this on youtube and am curious if this act is legal to perform without the permission of Chris Hart. I also see many others doing this act nowadays.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OTCwDap6Mw

It is difficult to copyright or otherwise copy protect a magic act or any part of a magic act, so I would guess that it is legal. Copying an act comes down more to ethics than legalities.

Do you have a link to Chris Hart performing the effect that you think this one was copied from? That way we could compare similarities.

Joe Karson obtained a patent for his Zombie trick, including I believe the beginner's version that was known as "Miracle Ball." But that apparently didn't stop any number of other companies from manufacturing their own versions of Zombie.

There is info on Karson's patent at:
http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicati......le=en_EP

----- Sonny

It's also expensive to defend a copyright or patent. Eg. the inventor of Velcro® made almost no money on his invention because of patent infringement cases. His lawyers actually made more money than he did himself. That being said, why would you want to copy another performers innovation. Go ahead and use the basic working method here, it's a dealer item. But come up with your own embellishments.

Another thing to think about is the performance is done to a custom performance of Flip Flop Fly. You can't get that music and you won't be copying any less if you did the same routine with the Living Hand effect than if you did it with the same music were it available.

Thank you Anatole and MRSharpe for your answers. I understand that this is an old circus effect which was used as a gag and also used by mediums in their seance act. Before Hart's presentation, I have also seen this being performed by an old friend who played the violin while his finger was inside his zipper pants turning the pages in a music stand. I have also read this effect in old magic books holding different items like trays, curtains and boards.
But I guess Hart was the first to present this like a Living Hand effect.

This video has been around for sometime. That is an exact rip off of Chrius Hart's routine and he is not happy about it. The routine as Chris does it is NOT an old circus effect. Senace hands exist yes, but the extent at which Chris Hart's routine is structured is his and his alone. (Not to mention her version is VASTLY inferior to the original) Copying magic like this will garner you no favor in the magic community.

Thanks Stucky. That's what I was trying to say and I appreciate the support.