This cannot be legit, surely?

[mr_goat]

http://magicvideoclub.com

password mvc234

look at what they have there...can it be legit?

[Jonathan Townsend]

Impressive to have agreements with so many publishers.

[mr_goat]

Impressive to have agreements with so many publishers.

especially ones that don't offer downloads themselves.

yes, either impressive, or piracy...

[Bob Cunningham]

especially ones that don't offer downloads themselves.

yes, either impressive, or piracy...

The domain owner is an American (NY resident) and the domain is registered via GoDaddy so it should be pretty easy to shut him down (assuming it is piracy).

[Jonathan Townsend]

especially ones that don't offer downloads themselves.

yes, either impressive, or piracy...

The domain owner is an American (NY resident) and the domain is registered via GoDaddy so it should be pretty easy to shut him down (assuming it is piracy).

as u may recall

it's the copyright holder who gave persmission... or not.

did you ask them?

[performer]

I sent them a message inviting them to respond here if they wish. It is only fair. If they don't respond then I suppose it may be a reason for suspicion.

[Richard Kaufman]

Jonathan, you don't know what you're talking about.
Digital rights are controlled by the publishers.
I've alerted the necessary parties.

[MVCMagic]

Hey Guys,

This is Sam from Magic Video Club. We have been working with Murphy's magic to provide the downloads on the site. All downloads are obtained legally and distributed legally. If you guys have any questions please feel free to let me know!

Thanks,
Sam

[performer]

Good! I am glad I sent you the message. It is only fair that you are allowed to defend yourself against rumour or speculation before it gets out of hand. Jumping to premature conclusions is a foolhardy venture.
If you can substantiate what you say (and it should be very easy to) then I think apologies are in order and should immediately be made to you.

[MVCMagic]

Yes thank you so much for letting me know! Seriously if you guys have any feedback on the site please let me know as well. I'm curious to know what you guys think. We are still in a pre-launch phase hence the password.

[performer]

The question that does of course come to mind is do the publishers or the producers of the DVDs know that Murphy's have made a deal with you? Or is it a case that Murphy's themselves are the publishers of the DVDs?

[MVCMagic]

Murphy's has a reseller program of which we are a part of. We are adhering to their terms and conditions set forth by the manufacturers, publishers, and Murphys. Wether or not the original publishers of the videos are aware that we specifically are distributing their products we don't know. But, they have given Murphys permission to resell their content. Every time a video is downloaded on the site we have to pay for it and Murphys distributes the royalties according to the specific terms they have with that publisher .

[Richard Kaufman]

Well, I just contacted both Murphy's and L&L and both seemed surprised to see all their stuff up there and said they would be taking action shortly.

[MVCMagic]

Richard, that cannot possibly be true as we have had extensive talks with Murphys and they are very aware of who we are. Not only do they know who we are but they are alerted to every download that is made.

[MVCMagic]

I'm not sure exactly why there is so much confusion over this. We have signed a contract with Murphys... Do I need to post our correspondence? haha

[mr_goat]

I think apologies are in order and should immediately be made to you.

Ronnie, I know you are just trying to stir it up (yet again), but in all seriousness, why on earth should an apology be needed for merely *asking* if a site is legitimate when it appears to be one of those "3,000 DVDS AND EBOOKS" torrents made into a website?

[MVCMagic]

I actually think that it is a great thing that everyone is so serious about protecting the intellectual property of magicians. I think with so much piracy going on overseas, on youtube, and on torrents that the fact this conversation is happening is awesome.

The fact is there is a lot of piracy, and I can see how a site like this would raise red flags. But, this is indeed all legit. I am not sure that Richard understands the concept completely though. This is not like Netflix... you actually do have to purchase videos in some way.

[mr_goat]

I am not sure that Richard understands the concept completely though.

I am pretty sure Mr K knows the right people to call to find out if you are legit. He says the people have no idea who you are.

I'll take his word on it, seeing as he is well regarded.

But, by all means post some scans of your agreement(s) with Murphy's to prove him wrong. Should be very simple for you to do, then this can all be laid to rest.

[MVCMagic]

How about this... I don't know if I am legally allowed to post this contract online. But... i will give 1 person on this forum my contact at murphy's and you can shoot them email. Then you can report back and tell everyone that this is legit.. I would love to know who Richard talked to because literally Mr.Murphy himself said he liked our idea.

Mr. Goat would you like to step up and do this?

[mr_goat]

How about this... I don't know if I am legally allowed to post this contract online. But... i will give 1 person on this forum my contact at murphy's and you can shoot them email. Then you can report back and tell everyone that this is legit.. I would love to know who Richard talked to because literally Mr.Murphy himself said he liked our idea.

Mr. Goat would you like to step up and do this?

Call me Damian

Samuel, thanks for the offer, but I am in the UK and on my way home to see my wife and daughter after a long week of work.

I'm sure you can redact any salient information from the contract. Obviously, you could just give out the number of your chum and get him to say he works at Murphy's. With the amount of time RK has been in this industry, it seems likely he knows who to talk to there and at L&L.

I really hope you can prove you are legit but the very long list of dispirit products, the fact that many of them are meant to come with gimmicks and the fact that the people RK spoke to had no idea of the alleged deal does tend to make me feel a tad doubtful.

[performer]

He IS legit! I am psychic and know these things. And if he isn't legit then I admire him even more. He must be a bloody good bluffer and I wouldn't like to play poker with him.

As for me "stirring it up" I rather think the original poster is more guilty of that than I am. I am merely giving Sam an opportunity to defend himself. And again, if he can substantiate his claim of innocence then I DO think he deserves an apology. So far the investigation is incomplete but I wouldn't like to bet money that he is bluffing. It will hardly take Sherlock Holmes to find out if he is telling the truth.

[MVCMagic]

We have just spoke to Richard on the phone and we are requesting that our Murphy's rep reach out to him to clarify the situation.

[mr_goat]

I DO think he deserves an apology.

Again, Ronnie, why should I apologise for *asking* if the site is legit?

(I mean, between you and me, we know you are just trying to stir things up, but go on, just have a go at answering the question).

[mr_goat]

We have just spoke to Richard on the phone and we are requesting that our Murphy's rep reach out to him to clarify the situation.

Excellent news.

[MagicbyAlfred]

Just for the sake of an interesting intellectual exercise, let's explore a hypothetical situation: Let's assume a magic wholesaler has a legitimate deal with a publisher to sell/distribute the publisher's copyright and/or trademark protected works. If the wholesaler, but not the publisher, then turns around and signs a contract with a third party to sell/distribute the publisher's works, but without the publisher's knowledge or consent, does that contract give the third party the lawful right to sell/distribute the publisher's copyrighted works? Not making a judgment here, just raising the question?

[MVCMagic]

Murphys is a wholesaler the contracts are specifically for the purpose of redistribution. To clarify that.. a wholesaler is an entity that only resells to third parties with the intent to sell products. If you are not a magic dealer you cannot buy anything from murphys.

[performer]

I can see a situation arising where the publisher may not know of the agreement with Sam. However, if they are indeed getting royalties then the issue is mute.

In any event I STILL think that Sam deserves an apology from the original poster and the more abject the better. If I hadn't intervened this could have gone on for several weeks and interfered with an ongoing legitimate business venture with all the usual defamatory and unsubstantiated gossip.
I bet Richard will be happy to apologise and set a good example. The original poster is not inclined that way

[MVCMagic]

I can see a situation arising where the publisher may not know of the agreement with Sam. However, if they are indeed getting royalties then the issue is mute.

In any event I STILL think that Sam deserves an apology from the original poster and the more abject the better. If I hadn't intervened this could have gone on for several weeks and interfered with an ongoing legitimate business venture with all the usual defamatory and unsubstantiated gossip.
I bet Richard will be happy to apologise and set a good example. The original poster is not inclined that way

I think that is totally a great thing that the question was asked, as that protects magic... which is unfortunately subjected to a lot of piracy. I think it is fantastic that the magic community takes action against non-legitimate sites, and there is no need to to apologize for that. BUT I do not think it was right that Richard said he spoke with Murphys and they have no idea who we are, because that is not the case. I would like to know who it is that Richard spoke with. And I do believe that this will all be resolved when our rep gets in touch with him.

[Brad Jeffers]

Murphys is a wholesaler the contracts are specifically for the purpose of redistribution. To clarify that.. a wholesaler is an entity that only resells to third parties with the intent to sell products.

You don't however seem to be merely a link in the redistribution chain, but are instead reproducing the product, for sale in the form of downloads.

That is quite a different matter.

[MVCMagic]

Murphys is a wholesaler the contracts are specifically for the purpose of redistribution. To clarify that.. a wholesaler is an entity that only resells to third parties with the intent to sell products.

You don't however seem to be merely a link in the redistribution chain, but are instead reproducing the product, for sale in the form of downloads.

That is quite a different matter.

I responded to your post in a PM about how the process works. We are essentially a link in the chain in the way we receive the products from the wholesaler.

[mr_goat]

I can see a situation arising where the publisher may not know of the agreement with Sam. However, if they are indeed getting royalties then the issue is mute.

In any event I STILL think that Sam deserves an apology from the original poster and the more abject the better. If I hadn't intervened this could have gone on for several weeks and interfered with an ongoing legitimate business venture with all the usual defamatory and unsubstantiated gossip.
I bet Richard will be happy to apologise and set a good example. The original poster is not inclined that way

Third time of asking, for the hard of thinking.

Ronnie, why do you think I should apologise for merely asking if a site that looks like a piracy site is legit?

Obv you won't answer because, as per you usual MO you're just trolling. Leapord/spots etc.

Sigh.

[Richard Kaufman]

Okay, I have been received a reply to my enquiry from Murphy's Magic and the reply is that these guys are legit. So thread closed!