Wow, what a lot of specious thinking.
First, obtaining one's ideas ethically does not prevent someone from ever creating original material, nor does it stifle creativity in others. There is nothing wrong with developing ideas of others - as long as those ideas were obtained ethically.
If I go to YOUR show, notebook in hand, and proceed to record all of your tricks - original or otherwise - and then return home with the intention of figuring out how to do them, I think we could agree that is unethical. Now, the way to change that scenario is simple - just ask the performer if it is ok to work on their ideas.
Magic is interesting in that sometimes magicians happily share their ideas with others. Sometimes via personal communications, sometimes through magazine subscriptions, and sometimes by selling their ideas to their peers.
The answer is simple - if you get your idea from someone else, then you should respect THEIR desires regarding their ideas.
If you buy their idea, then of course you are allowed to use it.
But what if you take their idea without paying for it - say, by figuring it out?
Is that being respectful of the creator? Are you being intellectually honest with yourself - I mean, would you have figured out what you did WITHOUT the inspiration and work of the other magician having been presented to you?
If the answer is no (and it almost always is) then you owe a debt to that magician who inspired you. What kind of debt? Well, ask them? Or, if you don't want to, then just think about it.
Does that magician seem to expect people to use his idea for free - did he publish it in a magazine or tip it online? If so - have it at. Or does it seem that the magician expects people to pay for the use of his idea - does he sell it? If so - then yes, to not pay him for the idea - an idea without which you would have NOTHING - would be if not unethical, at least classless and rude.
Some people are ok being classless and rude.
The comparison between music and magic is not a bad one - if it were made honestly. Right now, posters are suggesting that listening to a song without paying for it and performing a trick without paying for it are the same.
Not so.
If you would like to perform a copyrighted song written by a famous songwriter, you MUST license it. You cannot even get away with just buying the cd or the sheet music. If you want to realize the value of performance of someone else's work, then not only ethically but LEGALLY you must pay for it.
I happen to feel the same about magic. If you want to receive the value of performance, then you should pay for it. You are not buying a trick JUST for the method, as suggested by one poster. You are buying the trick for the right to perform it.
Finally, the notion that simply because some people break laws or choose to engage in unethical acts sometimes, makes them ok all the time is ridiculous. Sure, some people download music without paying for it. Some people kill people and litter. That doesn't make it right.
Here's why those who are about to dismiss my post should care: When you stop rewarding those who create ideas and share them, they will stop sharing and maybe even creating. Many of you may not have heard of the names Pressley Guitar or John Cornelius - but they are true magic geniuses. None of them release anything anymore, one is completely out of magic - why? Because when you give and give and give only to see your gifts ripped off by others, you start to ask, "what's the point?"
I personally know several magicians - names you recognize - who will not release their strongest material to the community. Some will not even demonstrate their material at magic conventions, except among their trusted friends.
The attitudes expressed in this thread only serve to close the opportunities and resources available to magicians throughout the world.
As Jon Racherbaumer once observed, There is a lot of amazing magic out there, and most magicians will never get to see it.
This is why.