THE FULL STORY...

P.S. Normally I would never put these private things on my website but because I was removed from the Facebook Group TWICE and some really mean things happened that people must know I see no other option…

Thanks again to all that wrote me the past few weeks!
I’m sorry if I did not reply to your e-mail or p.m.’s quickly but I wanted to find a peaceful solution for all first. I have received many rewarding e-mails, some people literally wrote me they respect my artistic integrity and that they want to do the right thing and not buy from Brett.

First of all I want to make clear that if you bought the Inkblot Test Pad artwork at our website, you can make as many pads you like and how you like, for the rest of your life, as long as it is for you own use and not to sell or produce them for profit! As soon as you are making money producing or selling the ideas from my book (even if you bought the artwork) you will need written permission and up to this moment nobody has permission to sell or produce my ideas (also Brett Barry doesn’t). A few people asked if I say they can’t use a certain printing service and although it’s not very easy to answer I want to make clear that I do NOT want to limit my customers in any way.

The best looking Inkblot Test Pad
In my instructions I always wanted to provide a way to create the best looking, most realistic and even more important the most authentic looking ‘Psychological Inkblot Test Pads’. The download-set that I offer on my website was clearly made to create your own Inkblot Test Pads in a way where you had to print your own ‘photos’ and glue them in an existing pad. I really think this makes the pads special and that this is the way to create the most realistic, authentic looking Inkblot Test Pads!

The moment you introduce this Test Pad to the audience you can say that the inkblot test was first created by a few doctors that hand-glued the photos into a small notebook and then you point to the pad you are holding and explain that you have one of the very few original handmade pads that were used in these special research centers.

If you make them as in the instructions they will not look like a pre-printed mass-produced product but authentic like the real deal, like a pad that was created by a doctor or professor to do these special tests. In the pictures I provided you can clearly see what I mean about how to construct them. I really liked the way it looks when inkblot-pictures are pasted on the pages, as if it were real photos of inkblots and it all looks handmade and hand-glued. It would be even more convincing if you add to the story that you have one of the only 8 pads that where ever (hand-) made by the ingenious Professor Doctor Johan von der Lindstrum (or any other name you like) and create a story around these pads. Leave them in the sunlight to let the sun do some damage and you will have the best and most authentic looking version you can own… and the pad will work flawless like a pre-printed product but looking much more authentic and special!

I guess some people just want to buy new pads and love the preprinted versions because they think it looks better and because it’s easy, but if you are willing to invest a little time and paste the Inkblot pictures in a Svengali pad I really think you have the most authentic and realistic looking pad for this effect!

Pre-printed Test Pads
For those that really want a pre-printed pad you still can create them in any way you like! Again I do NOT want to limit my valued customers in any way, on the contrary! I only hope they do realize that if you buy from a person that is clearly making a business of producing and selling my ideas from my book WITHOUT my permission that you are buying an illegal product. There is a difference if it’s a one-time printing job from your local printer (no problem) or if it’s a businessman that PRETENDS to offer a ‘custom’ printing service but in reality has a lot of stock and is only trying to make some fast money with other people’s ideas, intellectual property, using other people’s name, website, pictures, book, photos and artwork. This person is NOT allowed to sell or produce my ideas!

New Pads
Many people asked me if I could provide pre-made Inkblot Test Pads and some others asked me why I do not work together with Brett Berry and just ask for a fair share…

Well I did some research and YES I could provide pre-made Test Pads and ALL other pads too but I NEVER had and I still do NOT have the intention to produce or sell pads! But there is one person that could make me a Svengali Pad producer; If one person keeps producing and or selling my ideas, from my book, using my photos, my intellectual property and so on without permission chances are eXtremely high you will soon be able to buy some amazing quality pads for the cheapest price ever!

For $99,00 they could even have a golden cover. Pricy?! Yes it is. Especially if you compare the $99,00 for one simple pre-printedrinted pad to the only $35,00 I ask for the complete eXtreme SvenPad Supreme book that is filled with mentalism, magic, routines, tips, ideas and special handlings that took me many years to develop. Aslo Brett offered me the pre-printed Inkblot Test Pads for $12,00 on February 25th 2017 but I passed and instead I offered him a much larger share (if he would do the sales and shipping which he agreed on). Again I have NEVER had the intention to sell Svengali pads because sharing my ideas in a book was a passion project hoping to spread some good ideas and gain some friends during the way but it was not a business project. Also I have contacted Brett immediately after he send out his e-mail offering his supposedly ‘custom made’ SvenPads that are supposedly ALL HAND MADE, ONE AT THE TIME, but he only answered me he would keep selling ‘custom’ print jobs, and also he wrote that if he was me he would raise the price for the Inkblot Artwork, and he added that he only helps those who help themselves (whatever this means).

Really Brett only $2.000.000,00!? :-)
I already received a letter from his lawyer. Threatening me with a $2.000.000,00 penalty if I would ever produce or sell Svengali LIKE pads! Threatening me like this will only have the opposite effect. I’m really easy and always solution addressed but don’t have your lawyer write me to threaten me for something completely crazy. I'm not impressed! Not even a bit! And I repeat you will achieve the opposite!

Ask yourself;
Can it be worse than threatening me first and then just a little later start producing and selling other people’s ideas yourself completely without permission!?!???

I think my ‘quote’: “Money can change people” was spot on.

I have never seen so many legal disclaimers on a magic website where everything was hidden behind secret links and even password protected to find a page filled with legal disclaimers just to offer a ‘custom’ print job (“HAND MADE, ONE AT THE TIME!”). ONLY available via a secret link and later a password protected secret link.

- To me it only proves that you know, that what you are doing, is wrong!!!

You can openly insult Mark Elsdon and WarpedMagic (that created Force Pad), make a complete fool out of Rudy Sanchez from Cesaral Magic or get angry at Allan Wong (that produces some great Svengali Pads sold by e.g. Penguin Magic) or Propdog or those that produce and sell their Svengali Pad versions on eBay and many other places but you can’t fool nor scare me with your words or your threats! Even if you remove me from your Svenpad FaceBook Group and hide everything you do with password protected secret links buried under legal disclaimers and so on…

Very childish, and if I would ever start producing Svengali Like pads then you know who to thank for it.

Every person in the world is allowed to produce Blanc Svengali Pads!
We all know Brett Barry didn’t invent the Svengali pads. He didn’t invent the Svengali principle nor the idea to use it in a book, pad or whatever and his so called KoD pad is not adding much to the family too (I have used spiral bound Svengali Pads for years WITHOUT the pages been glued together and they worked fine too). The Svengali idea is old and the idea to use long and short pages in a pad are old too. There have been many variations like the children’s act with the color book that is first shown blank and a little later filled with colors, or the post stamp book, the amazing Bib Book and many other tricks produced in the past. These ideas and many more are old and it can’t be that Brett wants to force the world that he is the only person that is allowed to produce this old principle of magic only because he produced a nice quality notepad with long and short pages or to be more precise: his printer John Blue from BleuTekPrinting.com who really deserves all the credits for the quality of these pads!

Ask yourself this:

- What if Vernet who created some really great thumb-tips would forbid others to produce or sell thumb tips?!
- And what if at the same time he would steal ideas from others and sell them on a secret password protected website?!?

That would be crazy!

Illegal and respect
Again I don’t want to restrict any of my valued customers and I’m sorry if there was any confusion but I only wrote a legal notice in my book that says that you are not allowed to sell or produce the ideas from my book without written permission of the author. Something every serious magician, writer and inventor understands. Making (a lot of) money with MY IDEAS, MY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, using MY NAME, MY WEBSITE, MY PICTURES (also in the email ad), FROM MY BOOK and MY ARTWORK that took years to develop hundreds of hours to write, design, improve, test and so on… To produce and sell this ALL WITHOUT my permission is WRONG and NOT the way how to do it! Again I don’t blame or limit any of my customers but I don’t want to get used by someone to get rich over my ideas, my intellectual property and so on. And I hope you respect that.

HAND MADE, ONE AT THE TIME? LOL
The ad says: Real custom made and hand made one at the time. I did speak to my own lawyer quickly and it is clear that it is not legal to sell or produce my ideas from my book in any way or form without my written permission (no matter if there was a legal disclaimer on the download set or not, it is still an idea from my book) and I think that we all know that the pads you can order from svanpads.com are all the same and not as it was promised in the ad, ‘a real custom print job’! My lawyer immediately asked me a very important question; - “What if, from now on, you would send a different set of artwork, covers and inkblots to each customer?”… “Do they really all get their own custom made pad??” Not that it makes any difference legally but it does prove a lot to all that do matter and to all that do respect intellectual property and creators all over the world...

So from now on every set will be different
We think it’s a good idea to make each set different for every costumer from now on, totally free of charge. Also I won’t raise the price like Brett advised me to do but I will personalize your Inkblot Test Pads for free and I will even give you some special options to really customize your Inkblot Pads with any name and address you want on the cover below the inkblot for only $5,00 extra!

Special Facebook Group for book owners
For a long time I have been thinking to start up a Facebook Group for book owners (but I have so many other things to do, too many hobbies and too little time). Even Brett told me many times that I should start my own Facebook Group to discuss the matters of my book but with limited time I have had many doubts but maybe I will now open a group. I already set-up The eXtreme SvenPad Supreme Book Owners Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1919447548330575/requests/ please join this private group and as soon as we have sufficient candidates you will all be accepted.


WHERE DID IT REALLY GO WRONG...
About a year ago the weirdest thing happened to me as long as I’m into magic in the over 40 years! I will never forget the day that my wife the love of my life for over 35 year received some really bad news from our doctor, she was diagnosed with an incurable lung disease and I was in total shock. We don’t smoke but after examinations the experts told us that my wife probably already had asthma for as long as she lived and that the asthma had developed this serious illness called COPD. After we received the news we wanted go away for a few days to calm down and be together but I needed to finish one of the chapters of my book so it could be send to Brett for proofreading. So for about two days I wrote day and night (I really didn’t sleep) to get these pages ready so we could go away and try to relax and let it all sink in. I wrote Brett about the sad news too and send him the new pages from my book... but instead of a warm reply the weirdest thing happened. Brett didn’t react a single word about the illness of my wife. So I wrote about it AGAIN... and AGAIN in the next few days but no reaction. Wow I just can’t describe how that felt. I started to think that I had bet on the wrong guy… I’m a family man and the health of our love ones comes far above any hobby or even worse money related things (and I think it does with Brett too) but I never understand why he didn’t react and only reacted to the business parts that proved he did read these e-mails. So I asked why he had not reacted to this terrible news and because I noticed that during the period I send him these emails with this sad news he was posting on Facebook and promoting many times a day and almost every day a new Svenpad dealer reached my email inbox, so I also wrote “be careful, money can change people”. Very short after I had send this e-mail Brett answered with a very polite email saying he was sorry but that he was too busy to finish the proofreading and he wrote: “The ink Blots idea is yours - however I will not produce inkblot SvenPads or partner on an inkblot SvenPad at any time” and at the same time he REMOVED me from the Svenpad Facebook Group! Something that felt like a little child that stabbed me in the back!

I discussed all this with my wife and to stop with the book was not an good option because I had spent too many hours on it. Also I did think about changing the name to the eXtreme Svengali Book but I decided to keep it polite, I even apologized and stopped talking about private things with Brett. Weeks later I ‘acted’ as if I was surprised that I could not enter the Facebook Group and Brett played along and answered (OCT 19th): “Please ask to re-join the SvenPad group page - I accidentally while sorting removed your name” (Yeah duh, and my name is Donald Duck…) but I did, and it appeared as if nothing ever happened. We had a deal about the Inkblot Test Pads, I would get a fair share and Brett would sell the pads for $69.00 and get most of the profit (but that was a fair deal).

Color Match Pocket
A few months ago Brett wrote me he would credit me for a few new effects and ideas and that he would also credit me when he would produce ‘Color Match Pocket’… What? Color Match Pocket?!?! Did he mean my idea ‘eXtreme Color Match’ that I wrote in my book? I hope not, so I just asked, and Yes, he answered he had a similar idea long ago but that he would credit me for it. I answered that this was my idea and that he can’t just start producing ideas from my book and that he should have talked to me first. He answered me: “Let me be absolutely crystal clear that the SvenPads are my business - and any and all decisions are ultimately mine”. I explained to the king that he can’t just take my ideas and wrote: “You knew about MY Color Match idea for over half a year already now, but you never mentioned that you had the same idea!?!?!? Why didn’t you say that when I pointed out this routine many months ago?????” But he NEVER answered, instead he immediately removed me from the Facebook Group… AGAIN! and wrote me (May 16th) “Wishing you all good things and much success...”

AGAIN I was Facebook-Group-Less... I didn’t see it coming and why? The only thing I can think of is to try to hurt me! eXtremely childish and yes, it hurt me. Even though I don’t like these Facebook Groups, I DO CARE A LOT ABOUT ALL PEOPLE THAT BOUGHT MY BOOKS!!! Something Brett knew very well when he removed me from this group. I would never have discussed our private problems in the open, on the contrary but this changed when he crossed the line.

And now the so called ‘Custom’ Inkblot Test Pads…
His shout-outs are clear:

-     “The Holy Grail of SvanPads!”
-     “FINALLY, THE WAIT IS OVER!"
-     "Only Accessible Via SECRET Link.”
-     “HAND MADE, ONE AT THE TIME!”
-     “Many of you have been patiently waiting for these,"
-     "having seen them in the eXtreme SvenPad® Supreme book.”
-     “The full routine in the book describes more than 10 reveals”

And at the end he wrote:
“THANK YOU FOR BUYING THE ORIGINAL SVENPAD® SUPREME!”



I want to leave it with this. Naturally I have copies of all e-mails, ads and web-pages to prove this is all true…

The question now is:
- Is it correct that if Brett sells, let's say 500 pads he gets $50.000,00 and the creator, inventor gets nothing??

- Is it correct that Brett uses MY IDEAS and my INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY like this for his own profit without permission?? 

If he can, what is next?

He will probably try to do the same with many other ideas. Would it mean he can just go ahead and produce anything as long as he calls it a custom job??? You all know this is BIG BUSINESS and 100% COMMERCIAL and most important; all WITHOUT PERMISSION! Think about it, if the answer is yes, it would change the magic world forever and we can all start producing other people’s ideas…

How I wanted to solve this all quickly:
Even after so many things had happened, I still preferred to do what was best for our customers!

I only saw ONE fast and easy solution, even though I could produce and sell the Inkblot Test Pads myself and keep the profit, all 100% legal, this would take some time… So the best solution, especially for YOU, OUR valued customers would be if I would license Brett to be the only manufacturer for the only original Inkblot Test Pads… I would just openly give him permission to sell and produce these pads, BUT would it not be normal that I would get at least a very small share to get the exclusive rights to produce AND SELL my Inkblot Test Pads? This way Brett could keep selling the Inkblot Test Pads and we would solve this problem fast…

A CHEAP and SIMPLE license!
So I offered Brett a very simple license so he could officially sell the Inkblot Test Pads to anyone in the world INCLUDING MAGIC SHOPS but he wrote me he would probably limit the sales to less than 30 and that he wanted to pay me a reasonable amount per pad sold (with proof). He added that purchasers already bought the rights to have them printed for their own personal use however (and by whoever) they pleased. And yes, it is correct and I won’t stop them but again this does NOT say that what Brett is doing is permitted or legal!

I have no idea how Brett could ever provide proof to me about how many he had sold, so I proposed the most easy solution for all of us. A simple license for a VERY SMALL amount.

But instead of quickly solving all this I received the most crazy answer ever:

AND IT WAS IN ‘DUTCH’!
“Het zeggen hier in de Verenigde Staten is dat de varkens eten, maar de varkens worden geslacht. Ik wens u alle beste”

It’s poor Dutch but I can only translate it as:
“In the U.S. we say, pigs eat, but pigs get slaughtered. I wish you the best”

One of the most strange answers I have ever received in the over 40 years that I’m into magic. So I was not able to solve things quickly. If he sells Inkblot Test Pads he is doing it without my permission and I will take action, but I don’t want to limit purchasers of the artwork in any way, I only hope they will do the right thing.

THE MISSING PIECES...
To protect Brett’s business I left out some very important parts from the book. The eXtreme Svenpad Supreme Book is a tremendous promotion for Brett Barry’s SvanPads from start to finish. He could not wish for a better promotion then this book, writing and graphics! And also more Svengali (Pad)-ideas mean more SvanPads Sales and to protect ‘a friend's’ business I left out some secrets, some real SvanPad Killers. I left out how to create some really amazing Svengali Pads, FAST AND CHEAP and maybe even more important how to create the most amazing PRE-PRINTED Svengali Pads FAST AND CHEAP! Can you imagine what it would mean if you could easily create PRE-PRINTED PAD from ALL the effects in my book FAST AND CHEAP! I left out these Svanpad-killers because people will stop buying this many Svanpads the moment this secret is out.

I have been thinking about this a few weeks now and I see no resin to protect a person that stabbed me in the back the way this man did.

NEW BOOK!
You will not only learn the secrets about how to create PRE-PRINTED Svengali Pads in a NEW, very easy and very cheap Way!!!! But also how to boost your Svengali performances and how to create some amazing NEW Svengali tools for new demonstrations and new ideas!!!

So finally the word is out. At this moment I’m writing the eXtreme Svengali Book that will be released very soon. A great companion to the eXtreme SvenPad Supreme book that received many great reactions this past year and I hope you will all love this one too. There will be lots of new ideas and material, I just finished another photo session so it will again be as clear as possible and easy to absorb. More info about this soon on this website.

Thank you for reading so far.

I hope this cleared things up for all that might have questions or ask themselves why or what happened. I don’t want to be discussing this matter again and if necessary my lawyer will handle the rest in private.

Again thank you for reading, I really appreciate it. I had a strong need to write my side of the story… For the first time in almost 50 years in magic I wanted to stop with magic completely and even wanted sell my magic collection that took me over 40 years to collect! For the first time magic made me sad, really sad and I regretted I had put so much time writing a book, but some great friends made me realize it was not magic that made me sad but that money was the devil and that it is not worth it because my passion for magic is so much bigger than that.

I value family and friends like most of you do but as a businessman I have always calculated with TIME instead of money. Before I became 40 I was able to only do the things I really like for the rest of my life and I immediately took that chance with both hands. This didn't make me the richest man in the world but most definitely the happiest man in the world. Living with almost no stress and enjoying life to the fullest is a blessing. Most of the time with my wife Godie, the love of my life for almost 35 year and with a lot of magic another passion I have, like producing music and photography and more. Even though I prefer to do my magic behind the camera’s and have an advising role, I do hope to see you, meet you or write with you during a long road filled with magic and wonders, and other things we love so much...


Warmest regards,

John van der Linden
November 2017
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