To Your: Credit

TO YOUR

CREDIT HarApan Ong

Edited by Andi Gladwin, Joshua Jay and Mike Vance. Designed by Andi Gladwin © Copyright Harapan Ong & Vanishing Inc. Magic, 2019 All rights reserved. This material is protected and no portion may be reproduced without express written permission by the author and publishers.

TO YOUR

CREDIT HarApan Ong A guidebook on the unwritten but important rules of crediting in magic

What is this e-book about?

I am a strong believer in the need for magicians to include proper crediting and references when they are publishing or releasing a product for community. However, it seems like very few people nowadays know how to go about crediting other magicians. Worse still, many don’t even know that crediting is necessary whenever you publish or market your work. This e-book is my attempt at writing down some simple, practical, and realistic rules about crediting that any magician should be able to follow with no problem. I will also be answering some frequently asked questions regarding what to credit, how to credit, when to ask for permission, and much more. I hope the content of this e-book will be useful for magicians for generations to come. Please enjoy. Harapan Ong 2019

Definition.

In this e-book, I will be using the term “publish” to refer to a magician explicitly teaching their material for the larger magic community to learn from. This could refer to teaching something in a book, in a magazine or journal, in a DVD, in an instructional video download, or even a free video on YouTube. The format which the instruction comes in does not matter. For our convenience and brevity, I will use the same term “publish” for both teaching for free (e.g., teaching it in a magazine) or teaching for profit (e.g., marketing and selling a product). As long as you are releasing your work for the public (or at least the magic community) to learn from, you are publishing your work. However, simply performing your material in public for others does not equate to publishing. There needs to be an explicit attempt to teach your material for others to learn from. (See “Why publish?” for more context.)

Why is crediting important?

Let’s start with this fundamental question. Why? For those that are new to this topic, it could seem like a pointless academic exercise. Do we really have to write down our credits when we publish a routine? Surely that only applies to academic research papers, and not to a creative art form like magic, right? I will give three reasons why I think crediting is not just relevant to magic, but is actually important for the growth of the art. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it is a must!

Reason #1: It is the honest thing to do.

The fundamental principle behind crediting is honesty. Almost every idea you’ve ever had is either based on or has been influenced by other ideas you have encountered before. It is very rare (or almost impossible) to have a completely isolated idea that does not have any external influences. Hence, giving proper credits shows that you are honest about where you have drawn inspiration from. It is as simple as that – a sign of integrity on your part. It is therefore also a sign of humility, as you are openly acknowledging the shoulders of the giants that you are standing on. It is also a sign of dedication to your craft – it shows that you have put in the necessary effort to research on the originality of your ideas. Giving credit where credit is due does not diminish the hard work you have put in to publishing your creations. It does not take anything away – it only makes your work better and more credible.

Reason #2: It keeps track of an idea’s evolution.

This may be a bit of an academic point, but I believe it is important for us, as magicians, to have an appreciation and understanding of the history of the art. This, of course, includes keeping track of how ideas and routines have developed over time, and remembering the various contributions of magicians throughout history. Magic is not a scattered collection of individuals. It consists of an interconnected web of ideas that have built upon each other over time. It’s a lot easier for us to know what has been done before, where we have been, and where we can go if we can keep track of all this. The ability to do this effectively requires good crediting, and this requires a collective effort from everyone.

Reason #3: It encourages creativity by recognising talent.

Nothing makes a creator happier than seeing another magician learn, perform or build on something they have created and published. It means that their work is being appreciated by the larger community. However, most magic creators are not in it for the money. They are simply passionate magicians who want recognition for their ideas. Am I therefore saying that crediting is all about a creator’s ego? Partly yes, but let’s be honest. If you have come up with something that is really excellent, would you not want people to know that the idea was yours? Plagiarism is therefore incredibly damaging to the morale of a creator. Without the deserved recognition, creators will feel discouraged from sharing their ideas as they no longer feel safe publishing their material without the risk of it being stolen. Therefore, enforcing good crediting practices encourages the free flow of ideas within the magic community, which in turn boosts the originality and overall creativity of the magic we produce and perform. The least we can do for our creators is to recognise their incredible talent and their contributions.

In short, if you do not properly credit, you are stealing.

Simply put, crediting is a must! You may not have intended to steal anything, you may be a very creative magician, and you may be an all-round good person. But, if you do not properly credit the relevant people when you publish your work, you are stealing. You will be profiting off uncredited work from other magicians, which unfortunately makes you a thief. Fortunately, this can be avoided by taking some time to do some research and include the relevant credits in your work. Crediting is not always the easiest thing to do. It can be time-consuming and frustrating at times. However, I hope that the contents of this e-book will help guide you and make your crediting journey a lot easier.

If crediting is so important, why is it so hard to do?

If crediting is such an important step in publishing material, why aren’t more people doing it? I will attempt to give three obstacles that have hindered (and continue to hinder) the process of crediting.

Reason #1: Bad Ethics.

Unfortunately, there are unscrupulous individuals out there that simply do not regard integrity as an important value. These are unethical, untalented hacks who want the glory of inventing something new without the hard work and creativity required. They have no qualms about claiming ownership of an idea that is not theirs to begin with. Shady magicians are bad… but shady companies? From publishing re-hashed tricks without proper research and crediting, to simply blatantly stealing ideas by producing knock-off products… In their endless pursuit of more profit, the damage these companies can potentially do is even greater. The problem is exacerbated when the thieving party is a lot more famous and influential than the creator. The idea will then be forever misattributed to the wrong party, and we have discouraged the creator by failing to recognise their contributions appropriately. But the problem is, are we doing anything about it? Or more poignantly, can we do anything about it?

Reason #2: Bad Habits.

The unfortunate truth is that many magicians are just not very interested in credits. Most magicians don’t bother with doing any crediting research before publishing their material. There may not be any malicious intent behind this, but many people simply do not know the importance of crediting or that their work actually has its roots in other magicians’ ideas. During sharing sessions, ideas are also often shared without anyone checking whom they belong to. The result is that we tend to misattribute tricks to whoever performed it for us, instead of the original creator. How often have we heard a magician perform something and then say, “Magician X showed me this move 20 years ago?” Does that mean the move actually belongs to Magician X? Not necessarily, but without any other information, that would be the default assumption for most magicians. We can complain about unethical companies and magicians, but such crediting problems can only be mitigated by an informed and educated community. Not everyone is lucky enough to have a large library to reference from, so it is important for all of us to educate each other on the lineage and history of our ideas. Good crediting within the community can only be achieved with a collective effort.

Reason #3: Bad systems.

In an age where literally anyone can publish their ideas online, new magic products are being pumped out every single day. Without a centralised system to keep track of these products, it becomes increasingly difficult to credit ideas properly. The problem is compounded with the fact that many old publications (especially books) are no longer in print and have not been digitised yet, making it difficult and often prohibitively expensive for most magicians actually to do any research into the ideas from our past. Yes, there are online databases for magic publications, which are very useful but far from perfect. They often do not keep track of marketed single-trick products or instructional videos, focusing mainly on text publications. They are not always user-friendly as well – if a magician wants to check if a certain move is original, they would not even know what keywords to search on the database to begin with. Moreover, with magicians wanting to give their trick or move a cool and catchy (but often irrelevant) name, it becomes nearly impossible to search for items in online databases when there are no common keywords to start from.

What do I have to credit?

Now, let’s begin our journey in understanding crediting in magic with a simple question: What do we, as magicians, need to credit? I will discuss a few key topics here, including what to credit for effects, methods, and presentation, and also how to deal with tricks or moves that might be considered as “public domain”.

The Golden Rule of Crediting in Magic.

“You should credit anything you know not to be yours.” If you come up with a trick, a move or a routine that has any element that is taken from or inspired by someone else’s work, you should credit them. Simple, isn’t it? This could refer to the method employed, the actual effect itself or just the overall presentation. If any of those has its roots in someone else’s work, take some time to credit them properly. Remember, it does not make your routine less “original” if you have more credits and references. It only makes your publication more robust, more honest, and more credible. People will be able to tell exactly how you have improved on the original by providing this crediting information for your sources of inspiration. So do the right thing: credit!

Crediting for methods.

Crediting for methods is probably the simplest and most direct. Basically, any method that you did not come up with should be credited properly. This could include sleights, subtleties, finesses, and gimmicks. In other words, whether it is a Zarrow Shuffle, a Jordan Count finesse, a little subtlety with the Equivoque, or a well-known gimmick, take some time to find out who came up with these things, and credit them.

Crediting for effects.

Compared to methods, crediting effects or plots can be a bit trickier. Of course, if your routine is based on material from another magician, you must credit that magician and their relevant work properly. However, crediting becomes harder when dealing with a more “generic” plot that, since its conception, has had many variations. What if your published routine is actually based on a later variation of the original plot? This is especially relevant if the later variation becomes much more popular or has become the “standard” way of performing that effect. Which should you credit: the original, or the popular variation? I think that the best course of action is to credit both. Give credit to the more modern variation that your routine is directly based on, but also acknowledge its roots in history. This serves two purposes: it allows other magicians to learn about and track down the effect’s origin, but it also references the direct inspiration to your published routine. After all, it is possible that your published work is very different from the plot’s first appearance in history.

Crediting for presentation and context.

Crediting presentation is possibly the trickiest of the three. Not only is it the least common form of crediting, it is also the hardest to verify. Unless the patter and presentation are recorded down in a book or in video form, it can be difficult to prove ownership or to track its lineage. However, despite its difficulty, crediting presentations is just as important as crediting methods or effects. If the routine you are publishing utilises a presentation or even just a single line of patter from another magician (especially if it elevates and dramatically improves the entire routine), you should credit them properly. This is especially true if the other magician has provided a great context for performing a certain effect that has made the impact much stronger or more motivated. These contributions to the context of a routine are invaluable and should be credited properly. Try to be as specific as you can. If the presentation is not recorded in print or video, state where you first saw the presentation (e.g., whether it was at a public performance or a private session) and when you saw the presentation (e.g., a few years ago, or even the year if possible).

Crediting for popularity.

In a similar vein to crediting for a variation of an earlier effect (see “Crediting for effects” for more details), it is often good to include credits for magicians who have contributed significantly to the performance of a particular effect or routine by popularising it. After all, magic is a performance art, and its development is inextricably linked to how it is performed by others in the real world, outside of literature. Hence, besides crediting the original creator, crediting the magician who popularised the routine (or a particular way of performing that routine) ensures that the little touches that have been added by this magician are not lost in history. These details and improvements are often intangible and difficult to state explicitly, but are still important and should be credited properly.

Public domain.

Generally, there are a certain number of sleights, tricks or plots that magicians consider to be “public domain”. For example, credits for something like a Double Lift or a French Drop are rarely given or stated. The problem is: where do we draw the line that defines what is considered public domain, and what isn’t? Some would say that really old tricks can be considered public domain, whereas more recent tricks are not. Some would argue that it is about how common the trick is being taught or performed by others – the more common it is, the more it is in the public domain. For me, none of these arguments quite make sense – credit should be given, regardless of its history or ubiquity. At the same time, it does not seem feasible for me to write some sort of “official” list of sleights or tricks that are in the public domain. After all, who am I to decide? Who is anyone to decide? My advice is: err on the side of caution. It is understandable if the origins of some ideas have been lost in time, but the origins of many of magic’s ideas that we consider “classic” or “public domain” are surprisingly traceable. Do some research (see “Where can I find information on crediting?”) and you’ll be surprised at how much you can learn about the history of magic.

Where can I find information for crediting?

Alright, so you want to publish something, and you want to make sure you credit the right people. Good. The next question for many people will invariably be: Where do I begin? How do I find out the origins of a trick or a move? Herein, I will give you some tips that have served me very well over the years.

Doing your own research.

Consult your own books and videos. Good magic books and videos will include their references. Look through them and try to find the crediting information you need. However, not everyone is lucky enough to have a library of books and videos. Fortunately, many of the credits you need can be found on the Internet. Online databases like Ask Alexander1, Conjuring Archive2 and Conjuring Credits3 are invaluable sources of crediting information. Ask Alexander can be used with a free account (with options to upgrade to premium accounts) and it boasts the largest collection of magic literature in the world. Conjuring Archive/Credits is free for public use, and while it is a lot smaller, it should be sufficient for most of your crediting needs. You will sometimes find that someone has already provided the required crediting information on online magic forums. If not, posting your question on such forums can also be very useful. At the end of the day, it is still important for you to start building your own library of resources, if possible. Having that knowledge with you all the time is still the most convenient and reliable way of searching for crediting information. 1. Ask Alexander: http://www.askalexander.org 2. Conjuring Archive: http://www.conjuringarchive.com 3. Conjuring Credits: http://www.conjuringcredits.com

Ask for help.

Surround yourself with friends you can trust who are serious about studying the history of the craft. Direct help from these people can be very reliable and quick. It is also possible to check your crediting with a more knowledgeable magician online. However, crediting research takes effort and time, and not every magician is free or kind enough to help a random stranger on the Internet. The honest truth is, many of the more well-known magicians get a lot of messages in their inbox, and it’s hard to filter out real serious discussions from meaningless questions like, “Hey what’s your fav card trick?” or, “Can u tell me how to do this trick?” The key is to approach them with clarity, politeness and preparation. Ask your question seriously and be as specific as you can with the crediting help you need. Don’t start with just a generic or cryptic greeting with no follow-up and expect them to reply to you.

“hi”, “hello” or “hey”

“hey, can I ask u sth, pls ans me thnx”

“Hi, I’m Harapan, a magician from Singapore. I am intending to publish a booklet on my card tricks, and I was hoping to get some help on crediting some of the more obscure items. Would you happen to know who the original inventor of the Triumph plot is? I’ve heard that it’s Vernon, but I wondered if there are any predecessors before he popularised it. Thank you and I hope to hear from you soon.”

You should let the other party know who you are, what you’re trying to do, what kind of help you need, and then specific details about what you need exactly. These messages tend to have a higher chance of not being ignored, because it shows that you are serious and you value their input on your publication. If you are seeking crediting information on a move or a trick that you do not know the name of, film a very quick performance video and send it over to the magician. For best results, make sure the video is easily accessible by embedding it in your message, so that they don’t have to go through an external link to watch the video. Make things easy and convenient for them, and they are more likely to answer your questions. First impressions count!

Develop good habits.

Being knowledgeable about crediting is like having a strong, muscular body: it requires consistent hard work, which starts with good habits. When reading a book, always look out for the crediting references. Even a quick browse through the bibliography will expose you to many different publications. When watching an instructional video, listen for the crediting references. Skipping ahead in the video in order to save time can mean that you will miss out on the magician giving the background history of the routine, which provides invaluable crediting information. When watching or learning a trick from a friend, always ask who invented the trick, and if they know the name of the trick. Remember it! When performing someone else’s trick for another magician, make sure to let them know whose trick it is, so that they do not falsely attribute it to you in the future.

Essentials of crediting.

Now, with the information at hand, you will need to know how to credit properly, so that all the required and important information is included. There are four essential pieces of information to include: • Name of trick / sleight • Name of magician who created the trick / sleight • Where the trick / sleight is published • Year of publication As an example: “This trick is based on Out of Sight – Out of Mind by Dai Vernon, published in More Inner Secrets of Card Magic (1960).” These four pieces of information accomplish the basic goals of crediting – it honestly recognises the work of other magicians, and it allows others to track down the source of inspiration for your work. This is just the bare minimum for crediting information. Here’s how you can go even further with what you provide.

Crediting: Going further.

If the item was published in one volume or issue in a series of books or journals, you should also include the volume and / or issue number in your credits. (For example, Card College Volume 2, or The Pallbearers Review Vol. 1, No. 12.) A page number location is also very useful. The default assumption for crediting is that you are referring to an item in a book or journal. If the item was published in a DVD or a video download, your credits should state that clearly so that people know where to start their research in the future. If the item you are referencing is unpublished, your credits should state that clearly, too. Instead of the name of the book or the DVD / download, it should say “unpublished” or “from private communication”. If the item you are referring was published for free online (e.g., on a public website in either text or video), you should reference the URL of the website where the trick or sleight was published. As URLs might expire, you should also state the most recent date on which you read the trick or watched the video on the website, so that future readers know when the website was available.

Formatting.

Here are some other examples of how you can format your credits, when placed in the main text: • This trick is a variation on Stewart James’ “Further Than That”, which was published in The Jinx, No. 134, April 1941, p. 765. • This routine uses a move by Harapan Ong called “Cull Tap Reversal”, which was released on an instructional video download titled Cullology on Vanishing Inc. Magic in 2011. If you include your credits either as a footnote or in its own references section at the end of the main text, you could opt for a more succinct and academic format: • S. James, Further Than That. The Jinx, no. 134, p. 765, 1941. • H. Ong, Cull Tap Reversal, in Cullology. Video download, 2011. (from https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic-downloads/card-magicdownloads/cullology/, extracted on 23/10/2019) When filming an instructional video, credits can be included in the main video itself (in verbal or text form). Credits can also be included in the video description (especially for videos on streaming websites like YouTube) or in the product description itself.

Permission.

Permission can be a contentious topic. Depending on which magician you ask, some would say that crediting alone is not enough. Permission needs to be granted by the original creator before you can publish anything using the creator’s ideas. Not doing so would be wrong and disrespectful. But is this true? When is it really necessary to ask for permission to publish something? When is not necessary? Here’s what I think: we need to begin by asking ourselves why we would want to publish any of our ideas for other magicians.

Why publish?

In my opinion, the purpose of publishing magic is not just to put your name on record as having invented a particular move or a trick, but to share new ideas with the larger community and hope that someone out there can bring your ideas even further, with the end goal of moving the art forward. Therefore, if you publish something, there is an expectation that you want people to buy it, learn it, use it, perform it and be inspired by it, create new material from it and publish the new material (with proper crediting). If you want to keep something to yourself, then wouldn’t the best course of action be simply not to publish it? Therefore, in my opinion, seeking permission from the original creator is not necessary if you are coming up with variations on material that is already published for everyone to buy and learn. Only proper crediting is necessary. Note: Performing something in public is NOT the same as publishing. I am defining publishing as explicitly teaching it to the community so that they can learn it, be it for free or for profit. Hence, you should not start using material from other magicians simply after watching them perform it. You should always check if it has been published yet.

So, when is permission actually necessary?

To me, asking for permission is absolutely necessary if: 1. Your work is based on unpublished material. If you have seen someone else perform something they created but have yet to publish, and you then create something based on what you saw, you will need to seek their permission to publish your work. 2. There is a genuine case of independent invention. If you discover that someone has invented something very similar to what you intend to publish, you will need to ask for permission from the other magician. (See “How to deal with independent inventions” for more details.) 3. What you intend to publish is heavily influenced and hence very similar to another person’s material. (See “How similar is too similar?” for more details.) 4. You intend to describe someone else’s material in your own publication with little to no modification. If you are describing another magician’s move or effect in the context of a larger routine you have created, you will need to seek permission from that magician. Note that in all these cases, proper crediting is still required, on top of asking for permission. In fact, as a general rule of thumb, permission should always come with crediting.

How similar is too similar?

If what you intend to publish is too similar to another magician’s work, you should seek permission from the other magician before publishing your work. Of course, that begs the question: how similar is “too similar”? To quote Darwin Ortiz:4 “To justify its existence, I feel a new trick should be different from what has come before. And, to the extent that it resembles any previous tricks, it should be superior to them either in plot, method, or presentation (or in more than one of those categories).” I think the “Plot, Method or Presentation” idea is a good rule of thumb to follow when judging whether two tricks are “too similar”. However, the truth is that there is no blanket rule for what makes a trick “too similar” to publish, or “different enough” to publish without seeking permission. But there are times where despite having made genuine improvements, publishing your work may affect the sales of the original creator’s work, especially if theirs is a marketed product. The key thing to remember is that you should avoid directly profiting off the work of others without seeking permission beforehand. The best course of action is always to err on the side of caution. When in doubt, just seek permission! 4. D. Ortiz, Cardshark, p.11, 1995.

Permission is about being nice.

Although permission is sometimes unnecessary (see previously in “Why publish?”), it is generally still considered nice to ask for permission. It shows a sign of respect and lets the magician know that someone out there appreciates their work, and is inspired by it to create new routines. Based on my own experience, 99% of the magicians I’ve asked have been more than glad to give their permission to let me publish my routines that are based on their work. Creators feel appreciated when other magicians are inspired by their work, and as long as proper crediting is done, permission is a non-issue to them.  In short: if crediting is about honesty, permission is often about being nice. Yes, it is sometimes not necessary, but if you do seek permission, you are being respectful and courteous, and you might even brighten someone’s day. So, my suggestion is always to take that extra step, and ask for permission.

But what if they say no?

What if you ask for permission from another magician… and they say “no”? The short answer is: Respect their decision, and do not publish your material. I know this is not the easiest thing to hear, but it is true – if you wish for other magicians to respect your creations, you should do the same for others. If they do not wish to give their permission, you will have to accept it and move on. In other words, always be prepared to walk away. Luckily, from my experience, this rarely happens. Like I said, most magicians are more than happy to see other people come up with variations of their work. A tip I have for you is to make sure you obtain the necessary permissions early on in the publishing process. Do not wait until the final product is already ready for marketing and release before asking for permission, or else you will find yourself in a very difficult and painful situation of having to cancel a project that could have been very expensive and time-consuming to produce.

Independent Invention.

It always starts with a magician releasing a product on the market, when suddenly another magician will accuse the former of stealing something from them. What follows is usually a vicious and ugly mudslinging match played out for everyone to see. Friends of the accuser will claim that this is blatant theft, or claim that the other magician had not done their proper research. The accused party and their friends will claim “independent invention”, and that it is impossible for anyone to be aware of every trick on the market. Harsh words are exchanged, teeth are gnashed, and egos are bruised. And since most of these are done over social media, which is not exactly fertile ground for civil discussion, everyone goes home unhappy. This only serves to further polarise the community. But is there anything we can do to alleviate the problem? I believe that it would benefit us if we keep the following in mind.

“Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”

Hanlon’s razor essentially reminds us always to assume ignorance before evil intentions. In other words, always assume that the accused is simply ignorant or incompetent with their research before accusing them of malicious and outright theft. I completely understand why this topic brings up such strong emotions. As creators, what we want is recognition, and when that isn’t given, it is justifiable to get angry. However, please always remember: it is far more likely, given the vast quantities of tricks pumped into the market every day, that the other party has simply unknowingly come up with the same idea as you and did not do enough research, as opposed to actually seeing your idea and ripping you off blatantly. Are there cases of real plagiarism in the magic community? Yes, and unfortunately, these black sheep ruin it for everyone else. However, I would argue that most claims of “independent invention” are genuine, and are simply a combination of a lack of research and a lack of a system to track published material. I am not defending bad crediting – these people should have put in the effort to research properly before publishing. However, I believe we should allow room for ignorance and mistakes in crediting research before we go on a tirade, lambasting another magician.

How to deal with independent inventions.

Alright, so you’ve come up with something, but then discovered someone else has also come up with the same thing. You were genuinely unaware of this, and it is a case of independent invention. What do you do? As with anything, everything depends on context. For example, was this discovery of independent invention made before or after your publication? Is the other magician who came up with the same idea contactable? How similar are the two ideas? Here is what I suggest you should do.

If this discovery is made before your item is published: You have filmed your video download, or written your book. During your crediting research, you’ve found out that another magician has already published something similar or identical to your idea. You have two choices. First choice: Don’t publish your idea. If it’s one item in your book, remove it. If it’s a single trick download, then don’t publish the download. This option is best if your idea is identical to the other magician’s idea.

Second choice: Contact the other magician, and explain the situation while asking for permission to publish your idea. You should explain to the other magician that the ideas were independently invented, and you wish to publish your idea but with full credit to them. You can use this option if you feel there are small but important differences between your idea and theirs – therefore justifying your publication of the idea. If the magician gives you permission, go ahead and publish your idea. However, it should always come with proper crediting to the other magician for their independent invention prior to yours. If the magician says no, respect their decision and do not publish your idea. Simple as that. (See “But what if they say no?” for more details.)

If this discovery is made only after your item has been published: Despite your best efforts, something has slipped through the cracks. You have published something either too similar, or identical to another magician’s published work. You should immediately contact this magician and inform them of the situation.

Be honest and apologetic about it – let them know that you have come up with your idea independently of theirs, and have published without knowledge of their publication, despite your best efforts. At this point, it will depend on how the other magician wishes to settle the issue. Some may request for you to take your product down, which you should be prepared to do out of professional respect. However, most magicians I know would be willing to forgive this mistake, especially if you come from a place of sincerity. Of course, you should then immediately add the credits where possible (e.g., in the product or video description, or in a second edition of the publication) upon such a discovery. If this person is uncontactable (e.g., they have passed away), then there is no choice but to let it be. If people ask about it in person, make sure you give them the right credits.

What if I discover someone has ripped me off?

The worst thing to do is immediately to go on a tirade on social media without getting your facts straight. Always remember Hanlon’s razor. Instead, contact the magician in question privately. Check if they have genuinely ripped you off by stealing your work, or is it a combination of independent invention and lack of research on their part. The latter is still inexcusable, but it lacks the malicious element of intentional theft. Contacting the magician privately also increases the chances of settling the issue peacefully without an ugly public fight. If it is found that the other magician is indeed ripping you off and is unrepentant, I believe it is fair to go public and let potential customers know that the other party’s product is a rip-off of your work. As far as I know, there is very little to no legal protection for ideas in magic5, so the best weapon you have is to educate the public. Be prepared to show hard evidence of your work, including where and when it has been published. If it is found to be a genuine case of independent invention, and the other party is honest and apologetic about it, settle the situation privately. Either kindly ask them to take their product down (if you feel the sale of their product will negatively impact the sale of yours), or amend the mistake by adding proper credits where possible. 5. During the editing of this e-book, I have been told by the editor that for more information on the topic of legal protection for magicians, please check out Sara Crasson’s book Own Your Magic (2019).

How to deal with other crediting mistakes.

Crediting is an important part of publishing, but it is not always easy. Hence, you might accidentally make mistakes in your credits, despite your best efforts. These mistakes include missing credits (as mentioned previously in the section on Independent Inventions) and erroneous credits (e.g., crediting the wrong person for the idea, or getting some other information wrong). If you discover a mistake in your credits, do not fret! It happens to the best of us. If possible, immediately contact the relevant magician you were supposed to credit. Apologise for your oversight and mistake sincerely. As I said before, most magicians I know will be willing to forgive the mistake. You should then try your best to make amends to fix the mistake. Correct the credits where possible – for example, in the video or product description, or in a second edition of the book in the future. Sincerity is the key. Most magicians understand that crediting mistakes can happen, and as long as you show a willingness to correct those mistakes, everything will be fine.

Final words.

I hope this e-book has given you enough of the essential information with regards to the why, what, who, and how to credit when you publish material for other magicians. Crediting can be very challenging and might sometimes seem like an impossible task. However, I can assure you it is definitely not impossible! It is in fact a crucial aspect in the publication process, and hopefully, the information here will help overcome most of the difficulties you might face when it comes to providing proper credits. Unfortunately, crediting mistakes happen more often than we want them to. However, I believe the key here is to show that you have put in the necessary effort to research and provide the right crediting in your work. Do your very best to get all your credits in order, and not only will your publication become stronger and more legitimate, you will be contributing to a collective effort in the community to ensure the history of this beautiful art is not lost.

Thank you.

It would be quite ironic if a book on crediting did not come with credits to those who have helped me with this e-book project! I would like to thank Joshua Jay and Andi Gladwin for their continued support. They were very kind to read through the e-book, and helped refine some of my ideas on crediting and permission with their insightful suggestions and comments. I would also like to thank Mike Vance for helping to proofread the e-book.