Gibson Guitars has settled a lawsuit that claimed they bought illegal wood. Gibson had been accused by the Feds of illegally importing protected wood. The Feds went so far as to raid the company back in 2009 and confiscate some $262,000 worth of ebony they said Gibson bought from Madagascar illegally.
The law that got Gibson in trouble is the Lacey Act of 1900, which protects cover wood and other plant products. It requires companies to make detailed disclosures about wood imports and bars the purchase of goods exported in violation of a foreign country’s laws.
The story goes back and forth, but Gibson claims that they didn’t know the wood was illegal because the often bought through middlemen. But the authorities and industry experts, say it’s pretty common knowledge that these middlemen deal in shady wood, so to speak.
On Monday, August 6th, Gibson settled by paying a fine of $300,000 and gave up the confiscated wood. They also agreed to contribute $50,000 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to promote the conservation of protected tress species including ebony imported from Madagascar.
“Gibson has acknowledged that it failed to act on information that the Madagascar ebony it was purchasing may have violated laws intended to limit overharvesting and conserve valuable wood species from Madagascar, a country which has been severely impacted by deforestation,” Ignacia Moreno, head of the department’s environment and natural resources division, said in the statement.
The actual truth of the matter may never be known but Gibson is back in action creating some of the most expensive and beautiful guitars available.
