Friday, August 26, 2011

USA vs. Guitarists And Luthiers [With Update]

More on this story that was first noted on The Coracle yesterday.  I fully expect a Justice Dept. raid on my garage any day now.  [BTW, this story is from the Wall Street Journal and may or may not require registration.]

Guitar Frets: Environmental Enforcement Leaves Musicians in Fear

Best quotation:
"'It's not enough to know that the body of your old guitar is made of spruce and maple: What's the bridge made of? If it's ebony, do you have the paperwork to show when and where that wood was harvested and when and where it was made into a bridge? Is the nut holding the strings at the guitar's headstock bone, or could it be ivory? "Even if you have no knowledge—despite Herculean efforts to obtain it—that some piece of your guitar, no matter how small, was obtained illegally, you lose your guitar forever," Prof. Thomas has written. "Oh, and you'll be fined $250 for that false (or missing) information in your Lacey Act Import Declaration.'"

Update:  A response from Gibson Guitars, including this wonderful observation by the CEO:

“The Federal Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. has suggested that the use of wood from India that is not finished by Indian workers is illegal, not because of U.S. law, but because it is the Justice Department’s interpretation of a law in India. (If the same wood from the same tree was finished by Indian workers, the material would be legal.)"