A case of bad manners

Any clan crest, including that of the Clan Fergus(s)on, is the personal property of the Clan Chief. Legislation as formulated by the Court of the Lord Lyon is pretty clear about this issue, and especially people who commercially manufacture Clan items and memorabilia should be aware of the laws, and respect them – even when outside Scotland. In short, nobody but the Clan Chief can claim ownership of and copyrights on the crest of his particular Clan – it’s his property, period.

Sadly it doesn’t always work that way, as the picture shows. Although Celtic Empire in Canada makes beautiful Celtic and Clan stuff that I can generally recommend them for, they are way out of line when claiming copyright on the Clan Fergusson crest. Even if this particular example was drawn by themselves, it’s still Sir Charles Fergusson who owns all rights to each and every version of his crest. No, it certainly isn’t premeditated theft, nor will Sir Charles lie awake about it even one second – but it sure is a prime example of extremely bad manners.