Another Get-A-Trowel?

[BAJR Host]

I have just heard about this new website.
(here are some quotes they have put up on other websites)

quote:We have supplied our archaeology trowels to students, Universities, Archaeological groups and societies around the country.

[:0] (but they just started!)

quote:we are..the..leading specialist in Archaeological Tools and Equipment

(thats quite a claim)

quote:we are..the.. largest independent supplier of archaeological tools and equipment within the UK

(thats even more of a claim)

quote:Archtools.co.uk - UKs first dedicated archaeology tools and equipment website

(not true)

quote:There is ..a job careers board updated daily with latest oppurtunities<sic> in the field of archaeology and relating<sic> discipline

(and where do these jobs come from?)

Pity that many of the images are mine (even my own toolroll! and trowel - rebranded with their own logo!), taken from our Past Horizons toolstore, or that content has been lifted from CatsCo, ArchaeologyExpert.co.uk, Archaeology Safaris and even... this is almost funny... extracts of the latest IFA Jobs Info Sheet, passed off as their own Job Uploads.


Last time I saw this, ... hmmmmm let me think... a site that looks good... er... but seems to mislead... for example its difficult to be the first dedicated archaeology tools and equipment website in the UK, when you have lifted content from two of them! and CatsCo has been about for years.

This is not about competition... this is about trust... they look good, they even sell a budget trowel for 5 quid (and boy is it budget) but they have not started from a fair point.. they have copied, taken, plagerised and told blatent untruths.. right from the start. The problem will be that just like Get-A-Trowel ... people will use them, and believe the hype....
"oh, they look good...and seem to know what they are talking about"
Course they bleedin do... they took it from others.!

I don't like it when people start like this... do you feel this is dishonest? Or fair competition? Are they making honest advertising claims? Am I overreacting? [:0]

AND breathe! :face-huh:


"I don't have an archaeological imagination.."
Borekickers

[RedEarth]

Having looked at the site I don't think you have much to worry about, apart from a little copyright infringement perhaps!

It always looks a bit desperate when people but their academic credentials on a website that is for selling things (I don't think Amazon would bother), especially if you then make several spelling mistakes! I always find the combination of rebel and archaeologist quite amusing and a bit of a bad sign too - after all archaeologists are renowned for their conservatism and conformity! Anyway, must dash, I'm just off for tea and biscuits with the reverend, toodle pip!!

[BAJR Host]

a little copyright infringement .... what is also a bit worrying is they are also ... the West Kent Archaeological Trust...
http://www.wkat-archaeology.co.uk/About%20Us/about.htm

Archaeological Trust? hmmm... most active group in Kent?? Where did they spring from? This is the sort of thing I love to see... but my whiskers are twitching... I found the Director has just graduated from Sussex CCE with an MA in Field Practice. Nothing like aiming high... and treading on toes.









"I don't have an archaeological imagination.."
Borekickers

[Unitof1]

They dont seemed to be registered as a trust on the charity commission site although they appear to do a lot of "outreach". They could be an example of a non-charitable trust, which has lots of interesting scam angles for us self-employed chancers. "

[BAJR Host]

They have started to remove some stuff.. but have replaced it with other material.. including the amusing ..
"Salaries start from £12,720 (Institute of Field Archaeologists' recommended minimum)."

Have we gone back in time??

I have just had an email from him, basically telling me that as they have inserted a watermark and copyright on the photos I took, makes them his... ah me!

I just have that terrible gut feeling... which is a shame. He says the customer is King..... I prefer to see them as people and treat them as such.

This is my last word on this... I don't want it to look like ... well ... vindictive. Time will tell, I just hope they live up to the promises.

"I don't have an archaeological imagination.."
Borekickers

[gorilla]

Being a amateur / semi-professional photographer, I found this... from the British Institute for Professional Photography:

The copyright in a photograph belongs to the person who took it - Copyright Designs & Patents Act 1988 - the only exception being employed photographers, where it is his or her employer who owns the copyright unless they have a contractual agreement to the contrary.

In practice, this means that clients may only use photographs taken by a professional photographer in ways that have been agreed at the time they were commissioned. If further uses are required at a later date, permission must be sought from the copyright holder and an additional fee agreed.

Copyright lasts for 70 years after the end of the year in which the author dies and offers protection against unauthorised reproduction of the photographs and entitles the owner to economic benefit from it.

For this reason, it is essential that clients specify the uses to which images will be used - preferably in writing - when briefing the photographer and requesting a quotation. This agreement then forms part of the contract. The contract should cover how the work will be used, where (geographically) it will be used and for how long it will be used.

Copyright can be assigned to another person or company, but only if the photographer agrees. Assignment of copyright should normally be in writing, although an oral agreement could also be considered binding. With simple images that are unlikely to have no wider commercial value, such as a pack-shot of a recognisable product, some photographers will be happy to assign copyright to their client. However, where the picture is more creative, or has further economic potential, for example, as a library stock shot, it is essential that copyright remains with the photographer.

... and as for "He says the customer is King". I refer to the BAJR thread on archaeology and profit. To get ahead, we still right-royally shaft each other... and will probably do so for some time yet (so much for co-operation).

[gorilla]

... and I wouldn't trust a company to sell me something kosher, in which the head honcho can't decide if he has an 'e' on the end of his surname or not!

[oldgirl]

Personally, I'm slightly concerned that thet
a. appear to think that various historical helmets are something you should have on a tools website.
b. the personal profiles do not massively inspire me with confidence as to their professionalism. (mavericks, alcoholic bike riders and people who call trenches 'pixie traps.....)

[BAJR Host]

http://www.archtools.co.uk/company.asp?ID=75

What archaeology is about... methinks there is shome mishtake! Either that or I am doing it wrong! Pass me a Plumb Bomb Sarge!

"I don't have an archaeological imagination.."
Borekickers

[Unitof1]

I thought everyone had to have one

http://www.philipphaffner.de/deutsch/big...20bomb.htm