talkmagic.co.uk

Earlier today an ebayer mailed me out of the blue to ask if I wanted to buy an ebook full of fantastic magical secrets (Blaine, Brown, Xenon, Sankey, Gandalf, etc, etc). Suffice to say I magically made the mail disappear into my trash...

Is any one else sick of seeing these things crop up on ebay? Although I've never read one I picture them to be the magical equivilent of a frankenstiens monster, badly put together and artless. It really annoys me that there are people flogging manuals that promise to give away the secrets of loads of tricks for the price of a Happy meal!

Has anyone actually brought one of these books? Was it at all useful or did it (as I suspect) degrade and devalue the effects it explained? Why does no-one sue the pants off the copywrite infringers? Is this a genuine concern or am I just turning into a grumpy old magic snob?

Rant, rant, rant!!!!

I agree, however, there are some cracking eBooks out there, by original authors, that are well worth the download. Places like Trickshop.com and The Underground Collective produce superior downloads. They are both excellent, and little-known, too.

Copyright infringement is a nightmare. All I suggest you do is if you think it's not original, simply don't buy it.

Sadly, that's all we can do.

I've seen a few of those emails, too. With ebay, it's just way too easy to do these kinds of things.

I like Trickshop and Underground Collective - and have purchased some e-books from them. Top quality, well produced and indeed worht the purchase. Peter Duffie also sells e-books on magic.org, though I haven't purchased any of those.

If it's from a reputable place, I think the idea of e-books is pretty cool. But on places like ebay, I just don't trust it.

Flash wrote: Why does no-one sue the pants off the copywrite infringers? Rant, rant, rant!!!!

Well, how do you know they are copyright infringers? Maybe the ones left ARE legit. You said yourself the quality is c*** (not the best) - is it like stuff written by a teen in a garage? If it is, then it's prolly not infringing anything.

I'm just playing the devil's advocate here, but really why is it when it comes to digital media everything's guilty until proven innocent? But nobody goes after libraries for lending out books w/o author's consent!*

Well, a more concrete example, Blizzard is not authorized by Chuck to make D*** S****s, yet they make and sell them, abeit an inferior version. Should they need permission to do so? Both are successful products. (I don't know the answer to this, but it's an interesting question)


* there actually is a group out in the US trying to sue libraries for lending out books. Imagine if they won...

Option wrote: But nobody goes after libraries for lending out books w/o author's consent!

Thats because they have what is known as library privileges, which secures them against an infringement action. US will almost certainly have a similar legal exclusion. Although UK law has changed recently to align it with European copyright legislation, making this area a little more complex than it used to be.

I do agree with most of your commentary by the way. Isn't it interesting that despite the general hooha that is made over rip offs, that when USPCC created their own black deck some 6 months after ellusionist, no one spoke out about it. Now, like most I am fairly sure that there would have been strong T&Cs in place between USPCC and Ellusionist, but thats never stopped anyone ranting on these boards before. Are certain members now getting to grips with the finer points of copyright law or are we just a little bit selective in who we think is getting ripped? I wonder if there would have been any comments, if it had been the other way round?

I must agree about trick shop . com. I have purchased several ebooks from them and they are wonderful. The product is sent quickly and they answer any questions quickly too. Highly recommended

Ok maybe I should be more specific... It's not the legit stuff I have a problem with, it's the hundreds of ebooks that make a quick buck by blazing the names of Blaine, Brown and anyone else famous they can think of.

Incidentally I think there is a huge difference between a library which lends an honest punter the original text to read and someone who is making a buck from selling a mismash of spoilers to the general public.

I'm sure I must have infringed copywrite at times myself, most people have, but what I really object to isn't so much breaking the law, it's more that these books devalue the skill of the artists they rip off by spoiling the tricks, as we all know magic is about secrets. I know that these secrets are available elsewhere, but they should at least take a little work/knowledge to find... shouldn't they?

I've voted no as the question is a little too general. As Zack has stated, there are some quality ebooks from the Underground Collective and I have two from them and have been happy with the quality of the content.

Hoever, those making a quick buck and at the expense of the legit owner should go on the proverbial bonfire.