Question about CITES and the Lacey Act

[Jon Grider]

I had the good fortune to purchase a pick up full of shorts of Swietenia Macrophylla [Honduras Mahagony] that a local carver had obtained from the Kalamazoo Gibson Guitar factory before it moved to Nashville in the mid 80's. This is a CITES II wood, legally obtained and stored for nearly 3 decades.

My desire is to use it for small projects to sell online and to mention the Gibson Guitar historical connection as a selling point. Any legal help here? I 'm not wanting to have to answer to the USFW agency or run afoul of any "Gibson" patent or copyright laws. Maybe I'm being overly careful? Is there some kind of documentation concerning the use or possesion of the wood I would need to legally sell objects made from it?

[Wayne Lomman]

Make sure you have a paper trail that documents the story of the timber. Traceability will be the key. It will make your marketing legitimate rather than sound like name dropping and incidentally cover your butt from the regulators. Cheers

[Lloyd McKinlay]

Since you believe tying your product's raw material to Gibson Guitars in some manner is a selling point doesn't that get you uncomfortable close to a copyright problem? Using their name without permission is questionable.

[Earl McLain]

We have a lot of guitar playing friends, and if I said something about a large guitar factory that used to be in Kalamazoo...pretty close to every one of them could name it. If I added that they moved to Nashville--I bet they'd all know. Except maybe one--but he's the best player of the bunch so i'd let him slide!!
earl

[Andrew Seemann]

If you do choose to mention either Gibson or the factory location, remember that they themselves ran afoul of the Lacey Act in the last decade, so you might want to be extra clear about the provenance and age of the wood.

[Will Allen]

I had the good fortune to purchase a pick up full of shorts of Swietenia Macrophylla [Honduras Mahagony] that a local carver had obtained from the Kalamazoo Gibson Guitar factory before it moved to Nashville in the mid 80's. This is a CITES II wood, legally obtained and stored for nearly 3 decades.

My desire is to use it for small projects to sell online and to mention the Gibson Guitar historical connection as a selling point. Any legal help here? I 'm not wanting to have to answer to the USFW agency or run afoul of any "Gibson" patent or copyright laws. Maybe I'm being overly careful? Is there some kind of documentation concerning the use or possesion of the wood I would need to legally sell objects made from it?

The Gibson raid was a political hit job. I don't think making some trinkets will get you in trouble in the current environment.