This jerk has taken my "Schrodinger's Cat" effect, made up a PDF of the instructions and is blatantly selling it on eBay without even mentioning my name. He goes by the handle, "that's-cool" and is in the UK. Does anyone have any idea who he is?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/303886125571

Christopher

Christopher, eBay does have a system for reporting copyright infringement. I submitted an objection for you, but since I'm not the copyright holder, I'm not sure how effective it will be. Here is the info they provide for you to make a claim and get the item removed:

For Rights Owners
If an item or listing infringes on your intellectual property rights, you can report the listing by submitting a Notice of Claimed Infringement (NOCI). If your location or the item you are reporting is in Australia, Germany, Spain, France or Italy, please find a link to the proper NOCI below:

AU / DE / ES / FR / IT

Once your report has been processed, we'll provide you with information on how to submit additional reports, if necessary, through our VeRO reporting tool. The NOCI can be submitted to eBay:

By emailvero@ebay.comBy fax(801) 757-9521
You can also report alleged copyright infringements via a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notification sent to the eBay designated agent (contact information below) by providing ALL of the following information:

A physical or electronic signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright that is allegedly infringed.
Identification or description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed.
Identification or description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the eBay site, with enough detail that we may find it on the eBay website.
Your address, telephone number, and email address.
A statement by you that you have a good-faith belief that the use of the allegedly infringing material isn't authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
A statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.
Contact the designated eBay agent:

By maileBay Designated Agent
583 W. eBay Way
Draper, UT 84020By fax(801) 757-9521By emailcopyright@ebay.com

I'm on it, Johnathan, thanks.

CT

Good work, Jonathan. Hope you can make the jerk pay, Christopher.

Success, shut down, taken off. Good on ya CT and Jonathan1000, this page needs to be kept, very valuable information for the Café

Great news!
I am curious though, are the other items being sold ripoffs of other's intellectual properties?

As much as I like eBay it’s awash with fake / Counterfeit products. From clothing to watches and everything in between.

Unfortunately this is now a sign of the times.

Simply put if you release it, it will get ripped off.

What has changed over the past few years is the number of thieves jumping on the band wagon and therefore the amount of time it takes before your material ends up on torrent sites, dodgy online magic stores and ebay etc.

For example when I released my book SECRETS a 260 page hard bound book, within two weeks it had been scanned and uploaded and was being sold via various rip off sites as a PDF. Two weeks, that's going some since it is a print on demand book that normally takes a minimum of a week to be printed and delivered.

As for eBooks and instant download video, forget it they take even less time to be stolen.

Unfortunately where there is a magic/mentalism market there are thieves and the only way the people who sell illegal copies make money is because they are supported by the magic community.

If that sounds a bit harsh, here are a couple of examples.

I regularly get emails from magicians and mentalists asking me questions about routines in my books only to find out after a bit or probing the reason they can't work the routine is because there is a page missing from the copy of the book they managed to download from Scribd, a mate sent them or they bought for two dollars from an online dealer, even though the book was never released as a PDF.

But it's even more blatant than that. A few years back I was doing a live lecture for a magic club here in the UK and later as I was selling books and DVD's to the members, two guys stood right in front of me at my table. One had a number of books and sets of notes in his hand as he said to the other, "look if you go halves with me on these I'll scan and burn copies for you". He then got quite verbal when I took them from him and said they weren't for sale.

Supply and demand I'm afraid and the demand amongst magicians and mentalists who aren't willing to pay a fair price to creators, is on the increase.

Good luck Christopher - it’s wrong on so many levels. But great info Jonathan and very useful for us all to know.
Thanks

Thanks for all you support!!! I received a note from the guy that posted the listing I am complaining about. He apologized and is taking it down. It doesn't end there though. Get this: The reason he posted his version of my effect is to get back at someone called dr dark, who also has a listing of the same effect. So he was ripping me off to get back at another guy who is ripping me off. Love this business. http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......c=731799

You could help a lot by reporting this new listing.

Christopher

I believe you can "protect" a video or a book/pdf from being copied but you can't avoid someone to publish the same idea. Credits are usually an act of kindness. As a matter of fact many big names have published someone else's work without asking or crediting.

.

That same person is still selling rip-offs of some my items.

I contacted him or her and eBay years ago, eBay said since he’s not using identical names or images, then there was nothing they could do.

The seller told me that where he lives, magic tricks aren’t covered under copyright, as long as the names and images are different.

He/she has my effect “Depiction” as “Depicted”, and “Dreamweaver” as “”Nightmares”. Previously, he had several of my other wallet cards with slightly different names, for some reason those are no longer listed. He even had a video link to YouTube of me performing Dreamweaver in his eBay listing. I even had an effect on the “coming soon” page from my site. A week later he was selling in effect with the same name in a very similar image. It was not a complete rip off of the effect, just the image in the name, I believe he did this just to spite me for contacting him about being a POS thief.

A couple of years ago, I contact several mentalists that he has ripped off, included Scott Grossberg, who is also an attorney. He did send a strongly worded letter to the seller and eBay

It must be difficult for this scumbag to have the desire to produce some effects, but have no creativity or ambition to do so. The only way this person can do so is to steal from others.,

Christopher, beware that the item may only appear to be taken down during ebay’s investigation, and may turn back up. If the name is identical to your effect, eBay may just make him change the name.

I just clicked on the link Christopher gave and was able to see other effects currently listed by this seller. It is outrageous and, as Paul noted above, what he is selling is a rip off of one of his effects.
I'll be sending this eBay seller a message and if and when I get a response will pass it on.

Neil

I believe this is the same seller, or they are affiliated in some way.

https://ebay.com/usr/dr_dark

All rip offs.

All my pdfs are all over the internet at various sites. I gave up.

This is the message at the bottom of Dr. darks listings:

Copyright Law & Dr Dark

Before contacting us please read our position regarding Copyright below.

European law states that Copyright protection DOES NOT extend to magic tricks, secrets, methods, procedures or principles. According to European Law If you can deduce the secret of a magic trick from a performance or a description then you are free to use that information for any purpose.

We will NEVER reveal the secret to a trick that we have purchased from another magician, dealer or creator.

We aim to bring quality items of magic and mentalism to those enthusiasts and amateur performers who cannot afford the high prices generally charged and which professional magicians can often recoup in a single booking.

Complaints will ONLY be considered on the following grounds:-

· Breach of patent
· Breach of trademark
· Breach of Trade Secrets
If you have such a complaint please forward the necessary proofs and the listing will be removed.

Within eBay, threats and complaints for any reason other than those listed above will be responded to by referring the individual or organisation to this legal notice. Further threats and/or complaints will be viewed as harassment and the wider dissemination of such a threat or complaint will co

I really feel for the creators who put so much time, effort and money into effects only to have them ripped off.

Here is an interesting blog by Jason Ladanye about what it took for him to put his materials out only to see them pirated. Nobody with any scruples could read this and then pirate material or buy pirated material.

https://cardmagicbyjason.com/would-you-do-the-same/

The reason they’re copied in this manner is due to the high cost of buying the original. It’s the easiest way of getting your money back, or making a tidy profit.

Success.

This eBay seller has now removed Depiction from their list of items for sale. I told them it was in breach of copyright.

Neil

Correct.

The Conjuring Archive shows three effects using the name Schrodinger...
1) Schrodinger's Cat - R.Paul Wilson
2) Schrodinger's Tie - Tomas Blomberg
3) Schrodinger's Dream - Michael Powers

A quick peruse of Dr Dark's "Schrodinger's Cat" only hints at his procedure. CT are you sure he is using your routine?