By MONA R. LITT

MINEOLA, N.Y. (CN) - A young illusionist claims older magician and TV personality Criss Angel is cheating him of royalties for his magic tricks. Jacob Spinney claims Angel agreed to pay him 25 percent of net profits for rights to Spinney's Chair Self-Levitation, Spinney's Chair Self-Suspension and Spinney's Fork-Bending gimmicks.

Spinney, 23, claims that Angel, who owns the defendant companies Angel Productions and Angel Productions Worldwide, performed Spinney's illusion on the A&E Network TV series, "Mindfreak," and accompanying DVDs and gift sets.

Spinney says his deal with Angel included royalties, plus a promise to keep his trade secrets. He says Angel's release of the how-to DVD exposes those secrets and damages his business.

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