talkmagic.co.uk

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.

Smart creators (musicians, magicians etc.) are applying their creativity to the business model as well as the product.

From the Wikipedia entry for Nine Inch Nails' "Ghosts" album:

"Ghosts was the first album released by Reznor's independent label The Null Corporation. The smallest Ghosts package contains the first nine tracks, available for free online from either the official Nine Inch Nails website or officially from various BitTorrent trackers, including The Pirate Bay.

"The entire album was also made available for download directly from the band for US$5. Physical copies of the album were available for pre-sale online, with immediate access to the digital version. A two-disc version includes two audio CDs and a 16-page booklet for $10.

"A "Deluxe Edition" is available for $75 and includes two audio CDs, a data-DVD containing multitrack files of the album, a Blu-ray Disc with the album in high-definition stereo and accompanying slide show, and a 48-page hardcover book with photographs.

"A $300 "Ultra-Deluxe Limited Edition" included everything in the "Deluxe" edition, as well as a 4-LP 180 gram vinyl set in a fabric slipcase, and two exclusive limited edition Giclée prints, unique to each copy. These were limited to 2,500 pieces, each copy numbered and signed by Trent Reznor.

"The album is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license, in effect allowing anyone to use or rework the material for any non-profit purpose, as long as credit is provided and the resulting work is released under a similar license. Reznor explained this move by saying "It's a stance we're taking that we feel is appropriate [...] with digital technology, and outdated copyright laws, and all the nonsense that's going on these days".

From Jerome Finley's recent post on the MagicCafe:

I'm releasing 35 copies of this manuscript in preparation for the new "Dream Book" and live performance DVD set coming out this October/November. For those of you who've already expressed your interest in owning a copy of "PSM", I've also included a TON of freebies and special offers within it for one-on-one consulting, a $99.00 discount for the DVD set, a special "PSM" contest and VIP invite to the "Energetic Touches" webinar happening in mid September.

The online economy seems to reward inventive and creative thinkers who work with the medium rather than raging against it.

Another example - a stand-up comedian who put out a self-funded audio-visual package from one of his live shows for $5.

"The experiment was: if I put out a brand new standup special at a drastically low price ($5) and make it as easy as possible to buy, download and enjoy, free of any restrictions, will everyone just go and steal it? Will they pay for it? And how much money can be made by an individual in this manner?"

He generated more than one million dollars in sales in less than a month. Even once he had paid the bills for cameras, audio, staff, art and distribution, and donated $280,000 to charity, he was left with more than $220,000.

https://buy.louisck.net/news/a-statement-from-louis-c-k
https://buy.louisck.net/news/another-st ... -louis-c-k

thats an amazing read.

Just goes to show what a bit of creative thinking can do

MatCult wrote:Another example - a stand-up comedian who put out a self-funded audio-visual package from one of his live shows for $5.

"The experiment was: if I put out a brand new standup special at a drastically low price ($5) and make it as easy as possible to buy, download and enjoy, free of any restrictions, will everyone just go and steal it? Will they pay for it? And how much money can be made by an individual in this manner?"

He generated more than one million dollars in sales in less than a month. Even once he had paid the bills for cameras, audio, staff, art and distribution, and donated $280,000 to charity, he was left with more than $220,000.

https://buy.louisck.net/news/a-statement-from-louis-c-k" target="_blank
https://buy.louisck.net/news/another-st ... -louis-c-k" target="_blank

This is basically the business model behind mobile apps. If something is 99 cents, it's cheap enough to find out if you like it but hard to justify the effort to pirate it.

The original post is right their are moral and legal issues regarding piracy, but fighting it is very difficult and costly. The clever people are those who work with it. This has been shown with a lot a musicians who give tracks away to people pre release. As the saying goes "Bend like the willow, not steadfast like the oak"

You can fight it all you want, you can bitch, moan, scream and curse. It is wrong, and it is going to happen. More importantly it is going to happen if you put yourself out there with ebooks, youtube or any social media site. Welcome to the entertainment industry. (not only entertainment) I have found you cannot modify another's behaviour only your own. You want to stop piracy, Don't copy.