talkmagic.co.uk

Ok I'm looking at realeasing a routine that is based on a principle in an old book I read a while ago. I'm trying to find the book so I can find the name of the author and contact them.

Failling this where do I stand legally?

How old's the book?

I think it's 50's or 60's

Reverend Tristan wrote:I think it's 50's or 60's

In therms of copyright, you're golden, but morally, you really need to give as full an attribution as possible.

I was going to anyway, though it had to be over 100 years for copyright?

Reverend Tristan wrote:I was going to anyway, though it had to be over 100 years for copyright?

Essentially, it's not a copyright matter. You're not reproducing the original work word for word but referencing the ideas it expresses as the basis for your own unique work.

Thank you very much Tomo, will ler you all know when it's out

Legally you can pretty much do what you want, you only need to make small changes to something to avoid those intellectual property laws (Hello Elussionist!)

Lawrence wrote:Legally you can pretty much do what you want, you only need to make small changes to something to avoid those intellectual property laws (Hello Elussionist!)

In the U.S. you need but change things by 10%... that includes physical devices that have been Patented.

A book that old however, especially in this industry, may not have anyone (like the author) tied to it and in many instances not even the original publishing source is handling it. I was trying to research a gaffed envelope about two years ago and couldn't believe how many different people were tied to the thing at some level and yet no one knew who actually held the rights to the device, though the book on it had a recent copyright ... a book written by someone other than the guy that created the gimmick...

Craig Browning wrote:In the U.S. you need but change things by 10%... that includes physical devices that have been Patented.

Do you have a source for that? IANAL, but I understand it that a patent holds if it does the same function in the same way

A book that old however, especially in this industry, may not have anyone (like the author) tied to it and in many instances not even the original publishing source is handling it. I was trying to research a gaffed envelope about two years ago and couldn't believe how many different people were tied to the thing at some level and yet no one knew who actually held the rights to the device, though the book on it had a recent copyright ... a book written by someone other than the guy that created the gimmick...

Yeah, that's right. As I understand it the copyright will be copyright of the publication. In other words, a story or a piece of music could be past its copyright (which is life + 70 years in both UK and USA) but if it's republished (which you can do, for free) that publication will be under copyright. But again, I am not a lawyer

Ref Tristan, your best bet is to contact a lawyer about this if you intend to make money, rather than asking a message board who might give you questionable advice

as has been said, if you are going to make money, call your lawyers first.

Even silence is copyrighted. That's right. If you stay silent, you are breaking someone's copyright.

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/Mu ... k.silence/

Oh and this post is copyrighted to me, so if anyone tries to quote it, I'll sue.

kolm wrote:Yeah, that's right. As I understand it the copyright will be copyright of the publication. In other words, a story or a piece of music could be past its copyright (which is life + 70 years in both UK and USA) but if it's republished (which you can do, for free) that publication will be under copyright. But again, I am not a lawyer.

Copyright exists as soon as the work is produced, even if it's never published (although publishing is a good proof of creation). Reprinting a work doesn't extend the rights to it.

Copyright on text is vested in the exact words used. There is no copyright on ideas, although other laws can apply.

Until very recently, copyright in the US was more strongly linked to publication, and official registration was very important. Copyright was strictly time-limited rather than linked to lifespan, and a copyright about to expire could be extended by renewing the registration. This means the exact copyright status of anything published in the US before 1978 can be complicated.

Can I reiterate that this isn't an issue of copyright but of attribution.

Tris, PM , or email the effect to me, and i will try and put an original name to it.

Lawrence wrote:Legally you can pretty much do what you want, you only need to make small changes to something to avoid those intellectual property laws (Hello Elussionist!)

Not true, i was sued by British Telecom in 1989 for breach of copyright in Engineering drawings and i only changed a few points of the design in question but they still sued me.... it only cost a few hundred quid to issue a writ but 250,000 to defend one. It cost me 30 grand to get out of of it

Anyway you cannot use breach of copyright anymore to protect three dimensional products* but you have automatic 10 years design right on industrial designs.. 5 years monopoly + 5 years licence must be given
(* there was a big case recently in the UK with a toy manufacturer who lost the case relying on this)

Copyright lasts i think 70 years after the authors death in the UK(i think) and there are no hard and fast rules on what and what not to do. If you upset someone rich then they may sue and wait until you cave in. You can buy the extant 1987 Patents & Copyright act for around 20 quid and i can tell you that its worth every penny

If there are no test cases then this is usually a problem as there is probably no precedent for magic trick cases . Legal advice on this costs 250 and hour and the IPR Lawyers usually say no to everything in my experience and i have a lot

Actually i there may be a new patents & Copyright act out by now and ill look futher into this on my return to UK as i need a copy anyway. Any more thoughts after this i will let you know as i am indeed wotking on some products that i plan to release in UK this year and will hammer anyone who treads on mon toes...thats for sure. Although the internet has made things more difficult to defend across borders