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Criss Angel Sued For Alleged Unpaid Royalties

Jacob Spinney - Psychological IllusionistThe Las Vegas Sun is reporting that Criss Angel is being sued by 23-year-old illusionist and inventor Jabob Spinney.

Spinney is alleging Angel failed to pay an agreed amount for products used in Angel’s “Mindfreak” show and DVD, and claims in his eight-count lawsuit that in 2005 he assigned the rights of certain illusions, including Spinney’s Chair Self-Levitation, Chair Self-Suspension and Fork Bending Gimmick, to Angel Productions Inc. in exchange for 25 percent of profits. The DVD’s made over $190,000 in revenue in the first six months, according to the lawsuit.

Spinney claims he was not paid royalties from the “Mindfreak” DVD sets and received only a small portion from the “Mastermind” DVD set. Spinney received $26,000 of the estimated $267,000 the “Mastermind” DVD made in gross sales, the lawsuit indicated.

A representative for Criss Angel declined comment about the suit. Angel himself is in Mammoth, Calif., shooting an illusion for Season 5 of “Mindfreak” and unavailable for comment.

Posted by Webb on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 at 2:59 am.

  • LOYAL_Jaci
    Friend -
    In response to your off topic.... I know. I'm amazed by this every day.
    It's also half the reason why I laugh when people ask me why I'm such a loyal.
    :)
  • LOYAL_Jaci
    1- They could have simply moved on to other interests
    2- Joaquin Ayala, Ben Seidmen, Doug Malloy, Luke Dancy, Sean Fields, Joe Monti...all still work with him and say nothing but great things about Criss.
    3- Bro Gilbert, Andrew Gerard, Dexter Morgan used to work with him and I've never heard them say a single bad thing about him.
  • LOYAL_Less
    "I know a lot of people and magicians who have worked with and still work with Criss.
    All of them have said nothing but good things about Criss."
    Oh.. you mean like Steve Daly.. no wait, he quit.
    Oh.. like Banacheck... no again.. he quit.
    You must mean Johnny Thompson... no.. geez... he quit too.
    I can think of a few more, but I won't mention them, and they all quit.

    So Jaci... name one magician you know that has and still works with Criss.
  • Friend in Florida
    p.s. caught some of the live chat tonight. Where is Justin? I think they got a VanZant to fill in. Grow it all the way around the chin..don't be afraid. yeah 38 special. Some classic home grown Fla. rock. :)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMxqPRdR36I

    and one my fav...wild eyed southern boys.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI38ivH3dx8&feat...

    Look out for the gators and the grits!!
  • Friend in Florida
    off topic..but I just watched Criss' True Hollywood Story. It was....hard to find the words. I guess inspiring would be the top word. The second word would be family. And the third would be loyal fans. Simply amazing how much he went thru to get where he is at today.

    Emotional connection to your audience. The key. Criss admitted, I'm not the best singer, or magician...but I care about what you think...the viewer. I don't know if anyone could ever define what the "it" factor is...but Criss sure has it.

    For all you young ones..... take note. 20 years from now...how will you connect? Are you willing to put 18 hour days into your craft for years on end?
  • Timothy Drake
    Hi Laci,

    Of course there are two sides to every story and I don't know any of the facts of this case but I have heard from many magicians who worked with Criss in the past felt he used their ideas without permission. It's not something they talk about in public. They don't have a problem talking about it to other magicians though. LOL

    My point was that this is not unheard of with Criss. Whether its true or not its been discussed amongst magicians for some time.

    Best,

    Tim
  • LOYAL_Jaci
    I know a lot of people and magicians who have worked with and still work with Criss.
    All of them have said nothing but good things about Criss.
    This just seems a bit absurd to me. 2 lawsuits in such a little amount of time? I mean, come on.
  • Timothy Drake
    Laci ,

    I guess you don't know many magicians who have worked with him then.

    Best

    Tim
  • LOYAL_Less
    Criss stealing magic from other people?
    I have never heard of such a thing.
  • LOYAL_Jaci
    Ughhh!
    (end of comment)
  • Thanks Justin... ;-)
  • LD
    I feel bad for the guy, but he probably won't win. You see, this is common practice in the video/film industry. He signed on for 25% of the "profits". However, it becomes very easy to bury the profits as costs. Sometimes it's even legit.

    Think about it. $267,000 in gross sales. Take out of that the cost of production, cost of paying Criss Angel, cost of advertising, costs of this, that, and the other thing. It's very reasonable to assume it made only $104,000 profit. That would be a great profit margin if it did. 25% of that is his $26,000.
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