Gold Bros. busted for selling Isle of Skye tartan

I saw this on Matt's Blog and asked him if I could use it with some changes, he graciously said I could, thanks Matt. I really believe that this is important when it comes to this tartan. Unfortunately businesses that take part in traditional crafts such as tartan or Harris Tweed are increasingly finding it hard to survive, and poaching designs is not a way to help.

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 taken 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 poly-viscose, for example).

However, businesses such as the Gold Bros., and others, have long been ignoring the copyrighted status of this tartan and profiting off of someone else's beautiful design work. As someone who went through the proper channels and paid the royalties for this beautiful tartan I say it's about time they are taken to task!