The owner of a South Dakota company that sells magic tricks is suing a competitor in Washington state for allegedly defaming his character and hurting his reputation.

Magic Makers proprietor Rob Stiff, of Sioux Falls, is suing Chuck Leach, the owner of Chazpro, of Joyce, Wash., for allegedly using copyright claims on Internet sites such as eBay and YouTube to imply that Magic Makers tricks were stolen from Chazpro.

The Argus Leader newspaper reports ( http://argusne.ws/PyOnI6) that Stiff is seeking a court order barring Leach from making copyright infringement claims.

Leach denies defaming Stiff or behaving improperly. He has asked that the case be dismissed, and that the copyright questions get a hearing in federal court.

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Information from: Argus Leader, http://www.argusleader.com