James L. Clark

Crediting in Magic

11 Aug, 2009 by James L. Clark in Articles & Papers, Ethics & Morality, Magic, Musings

"Dude, that’s a total rip off!"

It’s a common scenario these days. You hear about a brand new effect on magic coming out and you rush out and buy it. You practice it and then a week later you show one of your magician friends and hand him the DVD to look at only to be told, "Dude, that’s a total rip off!" And sure enough, another artist did in fact come out with a DVD or a PDF or whatever about a year before this one with a slightly different handling; other than that, the two products are pretty similar. Eventually, the artist who put out the newer DVD is confronted and his response is, "But I used red back cards…" An excuse hardly accepted by anyone in the magic community.

WHAT ARE THE STANDARDS?

Some will tell you that at a minimum you must both credit and ask permission of the person who developed a given idea before you include it as part of your own routine, performance, or product. Others feel that no credit is needed because if magicians "know the trick" then it has become "public domain" and anyone can use it or do whatever they want with it—just like using math to balance your check book; you don’t have to pay royalties and you don’t need anyone’s blessing to do it. Others take the "legal" route and say, "As long as I’m not breaking the law…" when they copy someone else’s effect for their own or even reproduce it and sell it.

The fact is that this is a very subjective issue, just like ethics are in general. And the strong positions noted previously represent the more conservative and liberal views respectively that seems to significantly divide the magic community.

Frankly, I don’t know what the answer is to this problem, but I do propose a baseline from which the discussion can grow. It does indeed start with the most liberal of views, which says that you must follow the law. Following on from that we suggest looking at the concept of "plagiarism" to better narrow down the rights and the wrongs.

WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?

Plagiarism by definition is using others’ ideas and words without clearly acknowledging the source of that information (Writing Tutorial Services, 2000). It is the failure of an individual or group to give proper credit where credit is due and pretending that those ideas, concepts, artistic, or scholarly work is your own. To avoid plagiarism, any form of information requires attribution and acknowledgement. A common misnomer is that only copying text as it originally appears exactly without citation would constitute plagiarism, but the fact is the concept is much broader than that. Really, the sources of ideas, which include opinions, facts, theories, et cetra, must be credited. Failure to do so is unilaterally seen as plagiarism by the academy—and rightly so.

In the magic community like in academia, the source of an effect can come in many forms. It could come from old books, magazines, diaries, personal notes and letters, passed on orally from a friend or at a lecture, from audio recordings, or in video format. With the advent of the Internet, it could be instantly replicated millions of times online and a multiplicity of mediums for anyone to consume. But ultimately, one person or a group of people working in concert came up with the effect in question, and that person or persons should be credited with the work they did.

WHY CREDIT?

Because it is right to do so. Not because we insist upon it, but it is a standard accepted by all modern societies for reasons far too numerous to list in this article. However, we can say that citing another’s work has several benefits to the magician or mentalist—aside from the obvious goal of avoiding plagiarizing someone else’s ideas. The most striking benefit is that it gives you credit.

Yes, that’s right, you derive one of the most important benefits possible by simply citing another performer’s work—you maintain your integrity. It is hard and fast proof that you care enough about the art and your fellow artists that you were willing to put the time in to do your homework and show respect to the actual inventor of the effect—and effect that many in our community and countless spectators will have directly benefited from. In that respect, it is the least we can do.

Speaking of respect, giving credit also shows your peers that you are trustworthy, something that really shouldn’t be taken lightly. Trust goes hand in hand with successful business and personal relationships. The fact is, in real life you don’t trust your money to thieves and you certainly don’t share your ideas with people who you know will exploit them for their own benefit. And the latter happens far too often in magic. I know of several very clear cases, including a number of my own ideas, being stolen by another artists.

WHAT DOES CREDITING ACCOMPLISH?

Crediting accomplishes a number of things. It shows your respect for the artist or artists that came up with it before you. It validates their work and contributions to our art. Crediting demonstrates the depth of your knowledge and commitment to magic. It also enables those learning from you to locate and study the original source, which leads to their personal growth and perhaps that of others they will influence. It provides those who learn from you a sense of relevance and quality in your lecture or product and will invariably lead to you being seen as a person of integrity who can be trusted in this community.

SO HOW DO YOU AVOID PLAGERIZING?

Many assume that people who plagiarize are deliberately being dishonest in their efforts. In fact, most people do not intentionally "steal" another’s ideas or effects. Most of the time it is a case of plain carelessness, ignorance, indifference, or simply failing to understand crediting and its implications.

Since most of the time it isn’t intentional, the best thing to do is develop a set of "best practices" before you try to sell a product or give that next lecture on the "Crazy Man’s Handcuffs" that you invented 22 years ago at the age of 13. Why? Because we all know you didn’t really invent it; even the name itself came long after the effect was developed by an Englishman and then spread from the UK to NYC and then to LA via the Castle and the rest of the world through publications, video tapes, and more.

Here’s what you do to avoid looking like an idiot. To start with, do some research. Ask around. Go to respected sources in the magic community and see if they’ve heard of any effects that look or feel like the one you want to bring to the market. You don’t have to tell anyone how "you" do it, just tell them the premise behind the effect and then check out anything that is similar to it. If you must, buy the other effects. It’s worth the investment. You can even contact the originators of similar effects if they are still around and talk to them directly about it; most magicians are very approachable and more than happy to talk to you—especially if you had enough respect to contact them first before just releasing it to the public for consumption.

Using other people’s ideas is a recognized and important part of being a magician just as it is in academia; we all know that nobody operates in a vacuum. Every day we are influenced by the ideas of others; it helps make us who we are and contributes to our own unique styles as artists. It only becomes plagiarism if credit isn’t given to the original source.

SO IF I CITE IT, AM I FREE TO USE IT?

Citing another person’s work doesn’t entitle you to wholesale use of it in the magic community anymore than it does in scholarly pursuits. You really need to use common sense. You don’t just copy a person’s paper word for word, cite it at the bottom, and turn it in as your own work—that will most certainly get you a failing grade. The same goes for the magic community. Citing another person’s effect without adding to it or making it better, such as developing and presenting alternative handlings as compliments to it, is of little value to anyone. It also shows a significant lack of creativity and integrity on your part. So in that respect, no, you shouldn’t just reproduce another’s work as your own.

ARE THERE ANY EXAMPLES?

Alakazam Magic in the UK produced a DVD product called "Sealed In" by Alex Ward. It is a "coin in bottle" effect with a number of handlings that makes it a unique and entertaining trick. As one of the handlings to perform "Sealed In" the "Cap Trap" technique presented in "Prohibition" is clearly cited, praised, and then taught. Many magicians would be upset that it was taught, but I didn’t see it that way. In my view, this is probably one of the best recent cases of an actual effect being directly taught on another product as a complement to a similar but entirely different effect—and it is perfectly acceptable to me. Whereas, another DVD featuring the "Cap Trap" effect by Charlie Justice was brought to the market with only a slight variation to the entire routine originally taught on Prohibition and not as a compliment or with any improvement whatsoever, without any credit whatsoever—that isn’t acceptable to me.

WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?

It seems to us that the magic community as a whole is better served by only publishing effects that have been improved upon, where proper credit has been given, and if possible, where the collaboration and approval of the original creator is obtained prior to publication. The only generally acceptable exception to this would be works that are widely known where the originator is no longer living and the rights to that effect haven’t passed to anyone specifically such as family, as estate, or the entity that originally published the work on behalf of the creator. It benefits us as artists to support one another, to stay informed, and to make choices with our integrity not just with our wallets. By working together we can assure that the highest standards are maintained in our industry—a worthy goal indeed.

© Copyright 2008 by James L. Clark, Snr., Esq. All rights reserved. Duplication prohibited by domestic and international laws. This document is not for open publication and may not be released to third parties. The rights of the author have been asserted.

Website: http://www.jameslclark.com

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Tags: Crediting, Magic Ethics