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Many people have been asking about the origins of
certain products recently released in the magic community. We have done
some research and found that many items are not exactly what they seem.
We advise all readers to respect the rights of the inventors, and buy
only the "originals".
If you'd like to take a look at
some New Products and compare them to the Original Versions
New vs Original
If you'd like to find out who
invented some of the more popular effects in magic
Inventors
If you'd like to leave a comment
or read what other people have to say about Magic Fakers
Your Say
Penguin Magic say, in their
'Guidelines for Ethics and Innovation': "When
bringing a new idea into the field, it's important to recognize where
the inspiration and founding principles of the effect came from.
Additionally, magical principles and sleights involved in the methods
of magic tricks should be properly cited to give credit to the inventor.
It is the responsibility of the inventor of a magic trick to properly
cite all relevant sources of information. A properly cited effect will
contain a reference to the original sources, principles, moves and
sleights involved, who discovered them, as well as where the originating
effects can be found (DVD, book, notes or retail product)."
We agree 100% with their statement, and that is the main purpose of
this page. Many new effects do NOT cite their inspirations at all. Our
rule of thumb as to whether a new item is a "rip-off" or not is to ask
the creator "Where did you get your idea from?" Generally, if they
released the trick to cash in on the popularity of another trick that is
virtually identical, they won't be able to answer the question.
Sometimes they will try to justify their "rip-off" by arguing that the
other trick is not original at all and has its roots and inspirations
in many older effects, Often this is true, because the other trick
credits those effects and has usually spoken with the creators of the
earlier effects to get permission to build on their research. The
"rip-off" invariably has not.
This page will be undergoing constant
modification and additions, so please feel free to email us with
information, comments and corrections at
katzkin@magicunlimited.com
.
Hopefully, there will be no need for this page in the near future.
Don't believe everything you read, educate yourself about the history of
magic. |
| NEWSFLASH
- May 2005:
I have
recently received threats, both via email and personally, demanding that
I take this web page down. The arguments were
A: I am using copyrighted
images. (It is legal to use images in order to make comparisons. Pepsi &
Coke do it all the time in each other's commercials. It comes under
'fair use' in the copyright act and is permitted for purposes such as
criticism, review, news reporting, etc.).
B: This page contains slander.
(I think they mean libel, slander is the spoken word. There is no
slander here).
The threats to me included lawsuits (which would be
thrown out of court), being investigated by the IRS (I'm Australian, so
not too worried there), and shrouded "you don't want me as an enemy"
threats. Threats were carried out by one man who called several magic
shops to spread lies about us. When we confronted him about this he
admitted doing it and felt justified because we had created this page.
So just in case someone hacks our ISP and
destroys this page in order to prevent magicians from knowing about
their "knock-off" products, we recommend that supporters of this page
copy it a spread it all over the world wide web. They may take one of us
out, but the others will continue to fight the good fight! |
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FAQ: "Is there some way for inventors to
protect their inventions using copyrights or patents and then pressing
charges when their inventions are knocked off? I only hear of when magic
effects get copied, but I never hear about the original inventors
challenging the knock off manufacturers."
ANSWER: Most magic is invented by
individual magicians, not companies. In the case of 'Healed & Sealed
Soda'
for example, it was invented by Anders Moden from Sweden. Once it was
copied by another magic manufacturer and released on DVD as 'Crushed & Cured
Cola' there was a
perfect opportunity for him to sue. However, putting aside the fact that
he lives on the other side of the world, he would first have to spend
thousands of dollars assembling a legal team and putting together a
case. The other manufacturer would argue that their product was different (the
method is slightly different, not an improvement it actually leaves the
can unexaminable, but in the eyes of the law that small change would be
enough to throw the case out). Even if Anders was able to win, all that
he would achieve at best would be to stop the company selling that
particular product. Would he get damages? Probably not. Would he have
his legal expenses covered? Maybe, maybe not.
When you weigh up the potential income for an
inventor for a trick (usually only a few thousand dollars at the very
best - exceptions like D'Lite and Card-toon are rare) the cost of suing a
company is generally more than the profit.
On the other hand, the rip-off companies know the
law and change the product just enough to avoid being successfully sued.
Even patented products like D'Lite are ripped off.
Thousands of 'Light up thumbs' pour out of factories in China. When
D'Lite sues them the general practice is to continue manufacturing until
the last minute then declare yourself bankrupt a day or two before you
are due to go to court. Suing a bankrupt company is fruitless. Generally
the company will start up again under a new name and the process starts
all over again. The legal system, though
well intentioned, works best for those with the funds to use it
properly. In our small community of magicians, we need to rely on the
ethical system instead.
- Tim Ellis
& Sue-Anne Webster |
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