Andy White Anthropology
  • Home
  • Research Interests
    • Complexity Science
    • Prehistoric Social Networks
    • Eastern Woodlands Prehistory
    • Ancient Giants
  • Blog
  • Work in Progress
    • The Kirk Project >
      • Kirk 3D Models list
      • Kirk 3D Models embedded
      • Kirk 2D images >
        • Indiana
        • Kentucky
        • Michigan
        • Ontario
      • Kirk Project Datasets
    • Computational Modeling >
      • FN3D_V3
    • Radiocarbon Compilation
    • Fake Hercules Swords
    • Wild Carolina >
      • Plants >
        • Mosses
        • Ferns
        • Conifers
        • Flowering Plants >
          • Grasses
          • Trees
          • Other Flowering Plants
      • Animals >
        • Birds
        • Mammals
        • Crustaceans
        • Insects
        • Arachnids
        • Millipedes and Centipedes
        • Reptiles and Amphibians
      • Fungi
  • Annotated Publications
    • Journal Articles
    • Technical Reports
    • Doctoral Dissertation
  • Bibliography
  • Data

Swordgate Fourth Anniversary: Purposely Vague Ongoing Legal Matter Edition!

12/14/2019

18 Comments

 
Fans of #Swordgate will remember December 16, 2015, as the date when the whole debacle about the "100% confirmed Roman sword" from Nova Scotia began. Those of you that continue to follow along after all these years know that it's still not over. Because it's an ongoing legal matter now, I don't want to go into too much detail about exactly what's happening. I do think it's appropriate, however, to provide some minimal information to those of you following this story, especially those of you that have chipped into my Woo War Two fund created to offset the legal costs of defending this blog and the Swordgate content that lives here.

This fall there have been multiple attempts by J. Hutton Pulitzer, the person who originated and defended the claim about the sword, to pressure me into taking down or altering much of the Swordgate content that I produced in late 2015 and early 2016. The first of those attempts included asserting claims of intellectual property infringement (specifically trademark and copyright infringement) to both me and my employer. Following that, Pulitzer contacted my employer with a list of false and defamatory claims about me.

I am now represented by a law firm specializing in intellectual property law, and my attorney has been in contact with Pulitzer's lawyer. 

That's all I'm going to say for now. There will be a full accounting when all is said and done. For further insight I recommend reading the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, how fair use relates to trademarks, a primer on defamation, and the state-by-state statutes of limitation for bringing a defamation case.

And so it goes on . . . I have student videos to finish and post from this semester's Forbidden Archaeology class, and I have several upcoming announcements related to my (real) archaeological work. The field school will be running again starting in January, and there will be extra stuff this year to go along with that. And I'll keep you posted on my art activities. I may or may not write another post to mark the official Swordgate anniversary on Monday (I still haven't sent Carl Feagans his award for winning our contest last year -- sorry Carl). If not: happy early Swordgate! 
Picture
18 Comments
Peter
12/14/2019 08:54:00 am

Basic question - What is he trying to do? Is he trying to erase all reference to himself from pushing the fake sword as real? Is this a pivot and deflect image conscious anxiety attack? Is he going to come out and make some sort of admission that he was wrong all along? Would he dare admit this in an effort to actually gain credibility in the real world? If he’s on the path of enlightenment and wants image changing concessions, then he’s concurrently throwing his past supporters under the bus. I say supporters, but if the number falls below four then maybe the threshold for calling them that has been lost. Maybe he actually has no idea what he’s doing - just another day/week/month of knee jerk moves. He digs his hole deeper.

Reply
Andy White
12/15/2019 05:46:33 am

I won't speculate as to his motivations, but I can say something about mine. It's my right to defend myself in both the public and legal arenas. And that's what I intend to do.

Reply
Joe Scales
12/15/2019 01:24:10 pm

When you're asking for money, vagueness generally isn't comforting.

Andy White
12/15/2019 03:58:03 pm

That's fine, Joe. I'm not going to say more than I think I should just to satisfy your curiosity.

Joe Scales
12/15/2019 04:13:43 pm

Oh, I'm not curious.
I'm skeptical.

Andy White
12/15/2019 05:02:34 pm

You're entitled to feel whatever you want to.

Joe Scales
12/16/2019 08:39:56 am

Thanks. Then I would implore your readers not to send you money unless you clearly detail where that money would be going, to who and for what specific legal services; and provide accountings for same accordingly.

Andy White
12/16/2019 08:54:24 am

I refer you to the fourth paragraph of the blog post.

Larry Tate
12/16/2019 09:08:14 am

Joe is just being a tool. He hangs out on Jason Colavito's blog and is always trying to bait him into arguments. He is just frustrated that he can do the same with you. Asking for money to deal with threatened litigation by someone like Pulitzer is self-explanatory. Only an idiot or asshole looking for an argument would act otherwise.

Joe Scales
12/17/2019 07:38:05 am

Yeah, I read that Professor. When all is said and done. However, with your vagueness, it still leaves open that some of the legal issues inferred by your pleas for cash might not take capital to defend or prosecute. It would also be reassuring to know that you have no family or other relation with any attorney you're planning on compensating. Just things you might want to consider.

And now that my crazed cyber-stalker has followed me here from Jason's site and I don't wish for you to have to read any more of their malevolence, there's no more to say but:

Happy Holidays Professor, to you and yours.

Joe Scales
12/14/2019 09:52:15 am

"...Pulitzer contacted my employer with a list of false and defamatory claims about me."

If true, that could be tortious interference with contract as well as defamation, and I'm sure an attorney would take the case on a contingency basis should you choose to go after Pulitzer. As I've also pointed out, should you be sued for defamation, you may have coverage through your homeowner's insurance policy which would provide you with legal defense at no additional cost. But legal opinions regarding intellectual property? Well, yeah... that you gotta pay for. Can't help you there.

Reply
Bob Jase
12/15/2019 05:50:39 am

In Trumpamerica the truth is a threat that must be crushed, you're just a small part of that.

Reply
GEE STRING
12/17/2019 04:57:27 pm

Joe Scales. I assure you that the issue is real and the law suit as well. Andy's blog is not just Andy's blog.. it's for all of us. He puts time and effort into the posts which we all read religiously. He tries to tell us truth and not bullshit. You can not acuse Andy of trying to cheat people out of money. I take offense to that. If you knew Andy he is one of the most honest bloggers I ever met. So if you don't care about the work and the knowledge he puts out there for us than respectfully move along. Thanks

Reply
Paul
12/17/2019 07:30:03 pm

Someone places themself in the public eye, makes a scene with tales that are not true, gets caught by fact checkers, then turns around and sues those same fact checkers for making him look like a fool, which in all reality, he did to himself. Should not have to defend yourself for free speech and outing the truth but that is a sad byproduct of a litigious society. My vote falls on the side of INTEGRITY. IMHO, of course.

Reply
Andy White
12/18/2019 03:34:08 am

To clarify: I'm not aware of any actual lawsuit being filed yet in this matter.

Reply
Jim
12/22/2019 09:08:34 am

Joe Scales is that same moron from the Colavito website. I try to limit the amount of posts of his I read because each one drops the readers IQ a point or two.

Reply
Stuart
12/27/2019 10:13:03 pm

I can attest that I also have been following Andy for several years now and he is as honest as they come. I'm very glateful that he has taken the cause of disproving Jovan Pulizer and his damned Roman sword as being but a tourist trinket. As a Nova Scotian, I find Pulizer offensive.

Reply
Mark Dawson
1/6/2020 02:50:51 pm

FYI, I only heard about Swordgate 30 minutes ago. Using only the name of the newspaper and "roman sword", I was able to find the original article within a few minutes. Don't these people realise that nothing is truly deleted from the internet: https://web.archive.org/web/20151222143330/http://www.bostonstandard.co.uk/news/local/startling-new-report-on-oak-island-could-rewrite-history-of-the-americas-1-7118097

Reply



Leave a Reply.


    All views expressed in my blog posts are my own. The views of those that comment are their own. That's how it works.

    I reserve the right to take down comments that I deem to be defamatory or harassing. 

    Andy White

    Follow me on Twitter: @Andrew_A_White

    Email me: andy.white.zpm@gmail.com

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner


    Picture

    Sick of the woo?  Want to help keep honest and open dialogue about pseudo-archaeology on the internet? Please consider contributing to Woo War Two.
    Picture

    Follow updates on posts related to giants on the Modern Mythology of Giants page on Facebook.

    Archives

    January 2023
    January 2022
    November 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    March 2021
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014

    Categories

    All
    3D Models
    AAA
    Adena
    Afrocentrism
    Agent Based Modeling
    Agent-based Modeling
    Aircraft
    Alabama
    Aliens
    Ancient Artifact Preservation Society
    Androgynous Fish Gods
    ANTH 227
    ANTH 291
    ANTH 322
    Anthropology History
    Anunnaki
    Appalachia
    Archaeology
    Ardipithecus
    Art
    Atlantis
    Australia
    Australopithecines
    Aviation History
    Bigfoot
    Birds
    Boas
    Book Of Mormon
    Broad River Archaeological Field School
    Bronze Age
    Caribou
    Carolina Bays
    Ceramics
    China
    Clovis
    Complexity
    Copper Culture
    Cotton Mather
    COVID-19
    Creationism
    Croatia
    Crow
    Demography
    Denisovans
    Diffusionism
    DINAA
    Dinosaurs
    Dirt Dance Floor
    Double Rows Of Teeth
    Dragonflies
    Early Archaic
    Early Woodland
    Earthworks
    Eastern Woodlands
    Eastern Woodlands Household Archaeology Data Project
    Education
    Egypt
    Europe
    Evolution
    Ewhadp
    Fake Hercules Swords
    Fetal Head Molding
    Field School
    Film
    Florida
    Forbidden Archaeology
    Forbidden History
    Four Field Anthropology
    Four-field Anthropology
    France
    Genetics
    Genus Homo
    Geology
    Geometry
    Geophysics
    Georgia
    Giants
    Giants Of Olden Times
    Gigantism
    Gigantopithecus
    Graham Hancock
    Grand Valley State
    Great Lakes
    Hollow Earth
    Homo Erectus
    Hunter Gatherers
    Hunter-gatherers
    Illinois
    India
    Indiana
    Indonesia
    Iowa
    Iraq
    Israel
    Jim Vieira
    Jobs
    Kensington Rune Stone
    Kentucky
    Kirk Project
    Late Archaic
    Lemuria
    Lithic Raw Materials
    Lithics
    Lizard Man
    Lomekwi
    Lost Continents
    Mack
    Mammoths
    Mastodons
    Maya
    Megafauna
    Megaliths
    Mesolithic
    Michigan
    Middle Archaic
    Middle Pleistocene
    Middle Woodland
    Midwest
    Minnesota
    Mississippi
    Mississippian
    Missouri
    Modeling
    Morphometric
    Mound Builder Myth
    Mu
    Music
    Nazis
    Neandertals
    Near East
    Nephilim
    Nevada
    New Mexico
    Newspapers
    New York
    North Carolina
    Oahspe
    Oak Island
    Obstetrics
    Ohio
    Ohio Valley
    Oldowan
    Olmec
    Open Data
    Paleoindian
    Paleolithic
    Pilumgate
    Pleistocene
    Pliocene
    Pre Clovis
    Pre-Clovis
    Prehistoric Families
    Pseudo Science
    Pseudo-science
    Radiocarbon
    Reality Check
    Rome
    Russia
    SAA
    Sardinia
    SCIAA
    Science
    Scientific Racism
    Sculpture
    SEAC
    Search For The Lost Giants
    Sexual Dimorphism
    Sitchin
    Social Complexity
    Social Networks
    Solutrean Hypothesis
    South Africa
    South America
    South Carolina
    Southeast
    Stone Holes
    Subsistence
    Swordgate
    Teaching
    Technology
    Teeth
    Television
    Tennessee
    Texas
    Topper
    Travel
    Travel Diaries
    Vaccines
    Washington
    Whatzit
    White Supremacists
    Wisconsin
    Woo War Two
    World War I
    World War II
    Writing
    Younger Dryas

    RSS Feed

    Picture
Proudly powered by Weebly