If You Want Serious Trouble With The Law, Why Don't You Try Making Some Phony "Alaskan" Art

 OUCH 

Phony "Alaskan Artists"Get 
$250,000 Fine For Their Efforts  

(Photos, Copper River Country Journal)

MARCH 6TH, 2025 

THIS IS REAL ALASKAN ART (BELOW) 

_________

PRESS RELEASE: STATE DEPARTMENT OF LAW 

Court Orders Local Business to Pay $250,000 Penalty for Selling Imported Products as Alaskan Made

By Patty Sullivan | State Department of Law on Mar 5, 2025Comments Off on Court Orders Local Business to Pay $250,000 Penalty for Selling Imported Products as Alaskan MadeFacebookMastodon

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The top two images show Dymondwood pocket ulu knives when they were imported to Alaska, affixed with a “Made in Philippines” sticker. The knife blade is already etched with “Alaskan Made.” The bottom two images show an identical style of pocket ulu for sale in Alaska, with a “Made in Alaska” sticker affixed to the handle.

(Anchorage, AK) – Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor announced that the Alaska Department of Law’s Consumer Protection Unit obtained a Superior Court order requiring B. Merry Studio, Inc., its owners, and an employee to pay a $250,000 civil penalty for marketing products as made in Alaska, when those products were in fact made in the Philippines.

“Our office is fighting to protect Alaskan artists and businesses, who take the time and pay a premium to make their merchandise here in Alaska. Honest businesses shouldn’t have to compete with companies that manufacture their products cheaply overseas but, nonetheless, market their products as ‘Alaskan’ made,” said Attorney General Taylor. “The Court’s decision protects the integrity of Alaska’s tourism industry. People need to be able to trust that they will get what they pay for when they visit Alaska.”

The defendants employed workers in the Philippines to make knives, figurines, and carvings. The products were shipped to Alaska in a finished or nearly finished state and affixed with foreign country of origin labels, typically “Made in Philippines” stickers. However, the defendants removed the foreign country of origin labels and sold the products as “Alaskan Made” and “Made in Alaska.” 

Some of the products, like those in the following images, were made in part from raw materials sourced from Alaska, such as caribou or moose antler, which were shipped to the Philippines for manufacturing.