Help Us Stop Magic Piracy

j.bayme

ceo / theory11
Team member
Jul 23, 2007
2,848
352
New York City
A frequent topic on this forum is piracy - exposure, and how to stop it. I don't think it would surprise you to know that this is a frequent topic of discussion behind the scenes, as well, and something we work to minimize on a daily basis. It's a constant battle for us, and hardly a day goes by when we don't deal with members who, with no moral hesitation whatsoever, upload copyrighted videos of work that does not belong to them.

It's even more troubling when - rarely, but sometimes - we hear about copyright infringement and filesharing from members who post here in these very forums, supposedly respecting the art while at the same time robbing those who are fighting, innovating, on its front lines.

Everyday we have members of our core crew and legal team on the look out. We try to minimize piracy as much as possible in - quite frankly - an effort to protect our work and our business. More than that, we do it to protect our artists - many of whose livelihoods and families depend wholeheartedly on sale of their original work. Every illegal download, every copyrighted video that is shared - does not go unnoticed. It matters - it really does matter.

There comes a point where we must admit that we are only a team of limited resources. And right now especially, we place those resources on what we do best - producing, creating, interacting, and advancing this artform one day at a time. Dealing with copyright infringement is a distraction to that goal, an interference to that objective. So today, we ask for your help.

Help us stop copyright infringement and illegal filesharing within this artform - both in magic and in cardistry. Report any active links that you come across - whether that be a YouTube video of a theory11 production (exposing something for all to see), a RapidShare / MegaVideo link, or any other of the sort.

With your help, we can not only make a difference - but maintain better focus on our work.

http://theory11.wufoo.com/forms/theory11-copyright-report/
 
Jul 18, 2009
75
1
Great Post. I will report any links I see. It sickens me to see piracy because I know everytime someone clicks that link someone just lost 50 bucks. It needs to stop.
 
May 3, 2008
858
0
I'll do my best to help. That link should be accessible to everyone really easily. You should post it at the bottom of the home page or something.
 
Jun 1, 2009
1,066
6
This should be a sticky so everyone can see. This is very serious, I'll be on the lookout.
 
May 25, 2009
23
0
Piracy is something I really feel strongly about and I really wanted to chime in on this issue.

Just to throw it out there, I am not defending piracy in any shape or form. However, we have to accept that piracy will be here to stay, especially with the advent of high speed Internet connection and the like.

Piracy can give a phenomenal amount of exposure to up and coming artistes as well as spreading their name around. Just like in the music industry, piracy can actually help. For example, you download an album from a band you've never heard of, listen to it and realize that you really enjoy it. You start to look through their discography and check out their tour dates. Soon enough, you'll be a fan and start talking about the band in your daily conversations with that hot girl you met at the bar.

However, if you saw the album on the shelves, you might have looked at it and considered buying it but your head told you to put it back for so many reasons like "What if I waste my money because it's bad?"

We do not have to embrace piracy but we can use piracy to our advantage in a variety of different ways.
 
Jul 8, 2008
443
1
http://twitter.com/search?q=#STOPMAGICPIRACY#search?q=#STOPMAGICPIRACY

Hmm who could THIS awesome dude be who created a topic for this ;) RAISE AWARENESS!!! Your money will be respected if we can get this thing really going. Also, I think it would be cool if we could try to do this for EVERYONE, not JUST Theory11 if possible. But then again, there could be more out there that I don't know about. Afterall, I don't google search "Illegal magic downloads" ;)
 
May 9, 2008
603
0
I'd have to agree with you dragon. People who weren't planning on purchasing in the first place, but who received a pirated version, weren't planning on putting any money in the creators pocket to begin with, so I can't see how it's money lost. What may happen is people give the artists work some exposure and is sort of a form of advertising.
 
May 3, 2008
858
0
I'd have to agree with you dragon. People who weren't planning on purchasing in the first place, but who received a pirated version, weren't planning on putting any money in the creators pocket to begin with, so I can't see how it's money lost. What may happen is people give the artists work some exposure and is sort of a form of advertising.

I disagree. There are many people who, before buying a product, check to see if they can get it for free. If they can't they buy it. If they can't, they don't.
 

CaseyRudd

Director of Operations
Team member
Jun 5, 2009
3,393
3,801
Charleston, SC
www.instagram.com
Here's a link that was showed to me by a YouTube member a while ago. Thought I'd expose the link and hopefully get it taken down. Over 200 magic DVDs and downloads, including almost all of t11's DVDs and some 1 on 1's. I haven't watched any, because I respect the art. I just want to say that DVDs that can be downloaded is a bad, very bad idea. Anybody could get the file and easily post it like a piece of cake. Also, try and get the most piracy protection encoded within the DVD so you can't copy it. People who have trouble with the DVDs can show a proof of purchase and get another one. Just thought I'd share this big deal with everyone in the magic community.

-Perceptiv3
 
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jonraiker

vp of development
Team member
Aug 5, 2007
1,330
24
Florida
instagram.com
Wanted to chime in and say we've already received a ton of reports! Much appreciated guys.

Remember to be as specific as possible when linking us to any infringement / exposure - and please refrain from posting any links as a response to this thread. Simply use the form and we'll handle it from there. ;)

Keep 'em coming. Thanks again guys! You rock.
 

j.bayme

ceo / theory11
Team member
Jul 23, 2007
2,848
352
New York City
Perceptiv3 -

Just to chime in from my perspective - I do disagree. We have never and will never punish those in the vast majority that ethically, legally purchase their magic. Thus, we don't put unnecessary DRM on our downloads, we don't have a bloated download system, and we won't refuse to offer downloads. That would be punishing the whole class for the actions of a very select few, and downloads are most certainly the delivery method of the future. Why has iTunes been so successful? Because they offer their downloads in a manner that is convenient, comprehensive, and painless. We seek to do the same, and I think we do a pretty good job at it.

Speaking directly about formats - it is no more difficult to pirate a DVD than it is a download. The difference in difficulty (with today's technology) is about 10 minutes. The format is not at issue or at fault. What is at fault? The people who do it.

Which is why this is a battle that must be fought on two fronts. Firstly, we need to work together as a community to have copyrighted content removed - a la our submission form here, or any other means at our disposal.

We certainly take the matter seriously and investigate every claim we receive daily. Your help is immensely appreciated. Secondly, we must all be cognizant and not turn a blind eye when you hear your friend or fellow member talk - online or offline - about downloading copyrighted material illegally. It's not cool, and anyone who claims to respect the art while simultaneously stealing the work of its most respected creators is about as hypocritical as they come. For anyone out there that has downloaded magic illegally before - now would be a great time to stop and think.

For now, we definitely do appreciate everyone that has submitted reports already - each one of them helps us, these artists, and this artform. Truly, truly - thank you.
 

CaseyRudd

Director of Operations
Team member
Jun 5, 2009
3,393
3,801
Charleston, SC
www.instagram.com
Ok JB. I getcha. It's just from my standpoint a DVD would be better than downloading huge files, but I see your point. And the iTunes point was a good point to put out. And I know that you can't put all that encoding, im just saying for the future, when we do have that type of advanced technology. But I'm glad to help JB.
 
Jan 26, 2008
419
1
Sweden
I think that one of the main things that made piracy such a big problem in the magic industry is that people dont trust the magic dealers in general anymore.


I know that there is allot of magicians that has spent 1000 of dollars every year on magic but now stopped because they dont trust magic dealers/sellers anymore because there are so much false advertising and bad service all the time.

Pre orders is often delayed several months and allot of adds are false to people dont trust them so people stop buying because they dont want to waste money since most of the time you cant use the product you bought.

This is not true for T11, everything includeing the service here is fantastic, but since the magic community is so small stuff like that affects everyone.
 
Jun 26, 2009
210
0
i bet you could just google "learn magic" to find bogus sites.
i hate that these people actually like revealing other peoples' work.
not nice!!

-zdog
 
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