Blackbeard
Filmmaker Fires Retort in Shipwreck Copyright Dispute!
Rarely is state piracy as blatant as in the case of Blackbeard’s Law—a North Carolina statute that targeted videographer Rick Allen’s unique footage of Blackbeard’s flagship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge. The statute—admittedly aimed at Allen’s work—claimed that the state could freely use, copy, and distribute Allen’s artistic work without compensating him.
After being sued, North Carolina amended its statute, but continued its piratical claims and its use of Allen’s work. It then tried to get Allen’s lawsuit kicked out of court. That attempt failed last August, when U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle determined Allen’s federal lawsuit against the state could proceed. He did so, in large part, by applying a legal principle the state previously conceded was correct.
Still trying to delay the inevitable, the state appealed the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. Now, Allen has responded.
In Allen’s appellate filing he explains that the effect of the state’s conduct is “piracy on a grand scale: a targeted attempt to take Allen’s body of work by intentionally infringing his copyrights and by adopting policies that allow others to do the same, all without any due process or compensation.”
“We’ve spent 10 years in the federal court system defending our intellectual property rights, and by extension the rights of all creators, from a state claiming it can steal that property with impunity and immunity. Notwithstanding the state’s considerable procedural efforts to derail our case, we continue to inch closer to justice,” Allen said.
For nearly two decades, Nautilus Productions was the official video crew for the Blackbeard’s Queen Anne’s Revenge Shipwreck Project. Nautilus Productions documented archaeological activities and the recovery of artifacts from Blackbeard’s infamous shipwreck at zero cost to taxpayers. Nautilus’ footage and images of Blackbeard’s shipwreck have aired worldwide on the BBC, the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, National Geographic and many more.
The history of the case can be found here; https://www.nautilusproductions.com/blog/blackbeards-lawsuit
Nautilus Productions LLC and Rick Allen are represented by Susan Freya Olive, solive@oliveandolive.com - (919) 683-5514, of Olive and Olive, P.A., Adam Adler, aadler@reichmanjorgensen.com - (650) 623-1480, of Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg LLP, Elliot Sol Abrams, elliot.abrams@cheshirepark.com - (919) 833-3114 of Cheshire Parker Schneider, PLLC and Joe Poe, joe@poelaw.com - (919) 810-0311, of the Poe Law Firm, PLLC.
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