Are State Governments Copyright Pirates?
When the US Supreme Court ruled earlier this year in Allen v. Cooper, the outcome for an unusual copyright infringement case left many IP creators dismayed, though it may have pleased Blackbeard the pirate. Videographer Rick Allen had sued the State of North Carolina when he’d learned it was using his exclusive underwater footage showing the wreckage of Blackbeard’s flagship vessel without his permission. Allen cited the CRCA, which was passed expressly to prevent such infringements. Nevertheless, the state argued that sovereign immunity shielded it from any such claims. READ MORE



