The Scotsman newspaper has recently reported that the Gold Bros. (retailers of cheap "tartan tat" on the Royal Mile, the internet, and elsewhere) are finally being called to task for mass-producing and selling the famous Isle of Skye tartan.
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Ban-on-39Queen39s-tartan39-sales.4249779.jp
The Isle of Skye tartan is a private, copyrighted design that was the idea of Mrs. Rosemary Nicolson Samios in 1992, an Australian of Skye descent, now living in Skye. It was selected through a worldwide competition won by weaver Angus MacLeod from Lewis who produced the first commercial quantities in traditional kilt weight in 1993 at Lochcarron Weavers in North Strome. Mrs. Rosemary Samios now controls the rights to the production of this tartan through registration with the Patents Office and Lochcarron of Scotland is the main supplier of fabrics and woven accessories in this tartan, though some other suppliers have been authorized (Marton Mills, in England, produces it with permission in polyviscose, for example).
However, businesses such as the Gold Bros., and others, have long been ignoring the copyrighted status of this tartan and profitting off of someone else's beautiful design work. So it's about time they are called to task!
1 comment:
All I can say is it's about time, as one who went through the proper channels to get this beautiful tartan made up into a hand sewn kilt for myself it is good to see them being taken to task.
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