From the Argus Leader we learn of a lawsuit between two distributors of magic supplies. According to the article, Rob Stiff of Magic Makers filed suit last week against Chuck Leach of Chazpro. According to the suit, Leach used copyright claims to flag Stiff’s products on eBay, Amazon and YouTube temporarily removing Magic Maker's products. Attorney's representing Chazpro responded saying that Magic Makers is in the business of selling knock-off magic products. It went on to claim that some were knock-offs of Chazpro’s products and that the takedown notices were proper. The article then recognized the murly waters of intellectual propery within the world of magic.
“It’s very murky as to what you can copyright in magic,” said Jacob Loshin, a Washington, D.C., lawyer and former amateur magician who wrote a paper on copyright law in magic for Yale Law School in 2007. “Magicians have developed a lot of norms that allow them to share secrets but shame people who take too many liberties with someone else’s work,” Loshin said.