The Ethics of Magic

Admin · 10-18-2011, 12:14 AM

http://magicethics.com | http://ethicsofmagic.com

Do not expose magic
There is no such thing as magic if the secrets would be out in the open. Selling magic or teaching it privately to other magicians and assistants is fine, as well as publicly exposing your own creations which use nothing but original principles and mechanics. You may not publicly expose other people's effects. This includes but is not limited to making a private video tutorial of someone else's effect, e.g. to send out as a contest prize.

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Do not steal material
You are free to perform and teach anything you know about with the exception of unpublished material from living magicians and creators or material involving active performance rights unless you have obtained permission to do so. When the magician or creator in question has passed away and there are no active performance rights in play, you can freely teach the material as long as credits are given.

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Give credits where credits are due
Credits need to be given in products, in lectures and to video performances. It also means that you cannot blatantly take and rename effects and routines. In case the original name involves a specific prop and you happen to use another prop in your performance, you can change the name so that it would suit your version. In case the original version differs from your take from a technical point of view, you can rename it as well, but you will still need to give credits to the original creator if you did base it on this person's idea.

Credits usually include those who came up with the routine and created the techniques you use. Techniques without any known creators could be skipped. In case it is a fully independent creation, you are allowed to say that as well, although doing some research is much more appreciated. If research has been done and it still appears to be an original creation, there is nothing wrong by giving credits to just yourself. However, if an earlier publication has been overlooked, a correction has to be made.

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Make everything you do your own
There is no need to try to copy other magicians or their acts, which, if obvious, can even be seen as copyright infringement. Be yourself and tweak effects to make them suit your own style and ways of handling props instead of that of someone else.

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Put time and effort into whatever you will be performing
Be sure to treat every effect with respect and to put in the time you need to get it down and perform it well. Laymen are not supposed to see what is going on behind the scenes.

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Popularity and money should not be priorities
Being a magician, or any other kind of artist for that matter, is about being dedicated to the art. If popularity or money is your priority and the art only comes second, it means you are not dedicated to the art and are willing to do anything unethical in order to get famous or to become rich. It is okay to make money or to gain fame with the art, as long as it happens in an ethical way.

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Use magic terms correctly
Whenever you use magic terms, use them by their actual definitions. It does not come down to personal takes on the definitions because then it would not make sense to use the terms in the first place. For instance, you cannot call something impromptu if there is any unrepeatable set-up involved, with the exception of a set-up on the spot.

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Do not lie outside of performances
It is okay to lie and manipulate during your performances, but lying outside of performances, especially to other magicians and usually for the sake of making yourself seem better than you actually are, is not appreciated.

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Do not make unnecessary, untruthful claims in your performances
There is no need to say you do not use specific props or principles (e.g. stooges) if you in fact do. Your spectators should not be thinking of it in the first place and to other magicians this would seem totally dishonest, so do not expose magic principles for no apparent reason. This has nothing to do with joking around (e.g. saying there are no tigers or trapdoors in your deck of cards) or with ordinary lying in performances though. That is more than allowed.

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There is no pride in figuring out effects, only in performing them
Do not be proud if you figured out an effect, only be proud if you are able to perform it well by yourself. Especially when watching a video, it may not be a challenge to figure out something secret due to the ability to replay it countless amount of times and ignoring any form of misdirection.

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Do not be a know-all
Use your knowledge and experience to help whoever needs it, but do not use it as an argument that you are always correct. The most experienced magicians may be the easiest to fool and the soonest to overlook anything.

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Treat products with respect
If you re-sell physical products or use them as contest prizes, you cannot make copies of them, with the exception of any product that is in the public domain. The same goes for digital (download-able) products. You can only re-sell these if you delete them from your computer and back-up drives completely. In case you want to share them or put them as contests prizes, you need to purchase them the amount of times similar to the amount of copies you will make (that is, including your own copy).

Re-selling or trading digital products is seen as unethical by default because there is no evidence that the products have in fact been deleted from your system and that you do not still have access to the files. In case of contest prizes, you also need to make sure that the files are only accessed by the contest winners.

It is okay to make copies for personal use, e.g. copying a physical book you own and turning it into an e-book in order to be able to read it on an e-reader.

10-18-2011, 12:14 AM	#1
Admin Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 173	The Ethics of Magic http://magicethics.com \| http://ethicsofmagic.com Do not expose magic There is no such thing as magic if the secrets would be out in the open. Selling magic or teaching it privately to other magicians and assistants is fine, as well as publicly exposing your own creations which use nothing but original principles and mechanics. You may not publicly expose other people's effects. This includes but is not limited to making a private video tutorial of someone else's effect, e.g. to send out as a contest prize. ------------------------- Do not steal material You are free to perform and teach anything you know about with the exception of unpublished material from living magicians and creators or material involving active performance rights unless you have obtained permission to do so. When the magician or creator in question has passed away and there are no active performance rights in play, you can freely teach the material as long as credits are given. ------------------------- Give credits where credits are due Credits need to be given in products, in lectures and to video performances. It also means that you cannot blatantly take and rename effects and routines. In case the original name involves a specific prop and you happen to use another prop in your performance, you can change the name so that it would suit your version. In case the original version differs from your take from a technical point of view, you can rename it as well, but you will still need to give credits to the original creator if you did base it on this person's idea. Credits usually include those who came up with the routine and created the techniques you use. Techniques without any known creators could be skipped. In case it is a fully independent creation, you are allowed to say that as well, although doing some research is much more appreciated. If research has been done and it still appears to be an original creation, there is nothing wrong by giving credits to just yourself. However, if an earlier publication has been overlooked, a correction has to be made. ------------------------- Make everything you do your own There is no need to try to copy other magicians or their acts, which, if obvious, can even be seen as copyright infringement. Be yourself and tweak effects to make them suit your own style and ways of handling props instead of that of someone else. ------------------------- Put time and effort into whatever you will be performing Be sure to treat every effect with respect and to put in the time you need to get it down and perform it well. Laymen are not supposed to see what is going on behind the scenes. ------------------------- Popularity and money should not be priorities Being a magician, or any other kind of artist for that matter, is about being dedicated to the art. If popularity or money is your priority and the art only comes second, it means you are not dedicated to the art and are willing to do anything unethical in order to get famous or to become rich. It is okay to make money or to gain fame with the art, as long as it happens in an ethical way. ------------------------- Use magic terms correctly Whenever you use magic terms, use them by their actual definitions. It does not come down to personal takes on the definitions because then it would not make sense to use the terms in the first place. For instance, you cannot call something impromptu if there is any unrepeatable set-up involved, with the exception of a set-up on the spot. ------------------------- Do not lie outside of performances It is okay to lie and manipulate during your performances, but lying outside of performances, especially to other magicians and usually for the sake of making yourself seem better than you actually are, is not appreciated. ------------------------- Do not make unnecessary, untruthful claims in your performances There is no need to say you do not use specific props or principles (e.g. stooges) if you in fact do. Your spectators should not be thinking of it in the first place and to other magicians this would seem totally dishonest, so do not expose magic principles for no apparent reason. This has nothing to do with joking around (e.g. saying there are no tigers or trapdoors in your deck of cards) or with ordinary lying in performances though. That is more than allowed. ------------------------- There is no pride in figuring out effects, only in performing them Do not be proud if you figured out an effect, only be proud if you are able to perform it well by yourself. Especially when watching a video, it may not be a challenge to figure out something secret due to the ability to replay it countless amount of times and ignoring any form of misdirection. ------------------------- Do not be a know-all Use your knowledge and experience to help whoever needs it, but do not use it as an argument that you are always correct. The most experienced magicians may be the easiest to fool and the soonest to overlook anything. ------------------------- Treat products with respect If you re-sell physical products or use them as contest prizes, you cannot make copies of them, with the exception of any product that is in the public domain. The same goes for digital (download-able) products. You can only re-sell these if you delete them from your computer and back-up drives completely. In case you want to share them or put them as contests prizes, you need to purchase them the amount of times similar to the amount of copies you will make (that is, including your own copy). Re-selling or trading digital products is seen as unethical by default because there is no evidence that the products have in fact been deleted from your system and that you do not still have access to the files. In case of contest prizes, you also need to make sure that the files are only accessed by the contest winners. It is okay to make copies for personal use, e.g. copying a physical book you own and turning it into an e-book in order to be able to read it on an e-reader.