When the State Steals Your Work – The Illusion of More Podcast with Rick Allen

"In March 2020, the Supreme Court delivered its opinion in the case Allen v. Cooper. The outcome was not surprising because the Court affirmed precedent ruling from the late 1990s which held that the 11th Amendment bars suing a state or state actors for damages stemming from intellectual property infringement. Thus far, I’ve explored the murky waters of state sovereign immunity as it relates to Allen v. Cooper and other cases, including author Michael Bynum and photographer Jim Olive’s lawsuits filed in the State of Texas. So far, my focus in this area has been academic. But on February 8th, Rick Allen filed an amended complaint in North Carolina, and after I read that narrative, I wanted to invite Rick back to the podcast to talk more personally about his story, what it means to him, and what it should mean to anyone who hears it."  LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

#artsandentertainment #piracy #northcarolina #shipwreck #shipwrecklaw #maritimeheritage #Pirates #NautilusProductions #Blackbeard #Documentary #StockFootage #Privateer #Archaeology #EdwardThache #copyright #QueenAnnesRevenge #McCrory #history #FriendsofQAR #NCDNCR #BlackbeardsLaw #NCFilm #Blackbeard300 #IntellectualProperty #lawsuit #SovereignImmunity #SCOTUS #SupremeCourt

N.C. Faces New Federal Claims in Blackbeard Copyright Case!

The infamous pirate Blackbeard was once the scourge of the Atlantic but over 300 years later a different kind of pirate sails North Carolina’s waters. And a case heard at the United States Supreme Court has returned to Raleigh. On February 8^th, 2023 filmmaker Frederick Allen of Nautilus Productions, filed an amended complaint in Allen v. Cooper against the state of North Carolina and the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NCDNCR) over the misuse of Allen’s copyrighted footage of Blackbeard’s shipwreck, the Queen Anne’s Revenge. According to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, North Carolina pirated Allen’s footage of Blackbeard’s flagship, and then passed “Blackbeard’s Law” (N.C. §121-25(b)) in 2015 to justify that misuse.

North Carolina has argued that Allen and other creators are barred from suing states and state entities for copyright infringement, even though states can sue their own citizens for infringing use of copyrighted works created by those very same states, under the guise of “Sovereign Immunity.”  Allen’s lawsuit alleges the above inequity in federal copyright law and the passage of North Carolina’s “Blackbeard’s Law,” illegally converted Nautilus’ footage of Blackbeard’s flagship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, into the public domain. The lawsuit further alleges that North Carolina violated Allen’s 5^th and 14^th Amendment Constitutional rights through the passage of Blackbeard’s Law, and that Blackbeard’s Law represents a Bill of Attainder, or targeted punishment of an individual by the Legislature, which is specifically prohibited in the U.S. Constitution. Allen is also seeking an injunction to enjoin North Carolina from engaging in further copyright infringements or takings.

Allen stated, “The Copyright Clause and the 5^th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution are meant to protect citizens from unjust and illegal takings of their property without due process or compensation. This lawsuit will benefit all creators, who drive the American economy, and help protect them from intellectual property theft by states. Nowhere in the federal copyright statutes are states exempted from copyright law or immune from lawsuits - yet North Carolina argues just that.”

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 for the benefit of, and at zero cost to, the taxpayers of North Carolina. Nautilus’ footage of Blackbeard’s shipwreck has aired worldwide on the BBC, the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, National Geographic and many more.

The shipwreck was discovered in 1996 by Intersal, Inc. which has filed a separate breach of contract lawsuit in North Carolina state court. The state of North Carolina and the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NCDNCR) are defendants in that lawsuit. That case awaits a trial date in North Carolina’s Business Court.

The filing in Allen v. Cooper can be accessed here – https://illusionofmore.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Allen-Amended-Complaint_NC.pdf

 

Nautilus Productions LLC is represented by Susan Freya Olive, solive@oliveandolive.com - (919) 683-5514 and David McKenzie, DMcKenzie@oliveandolive.com - (919) 683-5514  of Olive and Olive, P.A., Joe Poe, joe@poelaw.com - (919) 810-0311, of the Poe Law Firm, PLLC, and Adam Adler, aadler@reichmanjorgensen.com - (650) 623-1480, of Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg LLP.

 

#artsandentertainment #piracy #northcarolina #shipwreck #shipwrecklaw #maritimeheritage #Pirates #NautilusProductions #Blackbeard #Documentary #StockFootage #Privateer #Archaeology #EdwardThache #copyright #QueenAnnesRevenge #McCrory #history #FriendsofQAR #NCDNCR #BlackbeardsLaw #NCFilm #Blackbeard300 #IntellectualProperty #lawsuit #SovereignImmunity #SCOTUS #SupremeCourt

New Nepal Himalayas 5K Drone Footage!

Nautilus Productions is proud to announce the launch of unique 5K drone footage from Nepal, Himalayas. Working with our amazing DP from Nepal, we've added stunning 5K video from Nepal, the Himalayas, Langtang & Manang Valleys, Marsyangdi River, and Tilicho Lake (the highest altitude glacier lake in the world) to our footage library. Contact us for licensing info.

 

#NautilusProductions #nepal #himalayas #langtang #manang

#video #marsyangdhi #tilicholake #stockfootage #stockvideo

 

A North Carolina Filmmaker Continues to Challenge State Sovereign Immunity!

For nearly two decades, Rick Allen, an experienced underwater videographer and professional photographer, documented the retrieval and recovery process of an 18^th century pirate shipwreck off the coast of North Carolina. A dispute over the copyright in the works produced between Allen and the State of North Carolina (the “State”) is now approaching its tenth year. READ MORE

#artsandentertainment #piracy #northcarolina #shipwreck #shipwrecklaw #maritimeheritage #Pirates #NautilusProductions #Blackbeard #Documentary #StockFootage #Privateer #Archaeology #EdwardThache #copyright #QueenAnnesRevenge #McCrory #history #FriendsofQAR #NCDNCR #BlackbeardsLaw #NCFilm #Blackbeard300 #IntellectualProperty #lawsuit #SovereignImmunity #SCOTUS #SupremeCourt

Nautilus Productions Adds New Shipwreck Footage! 

Nautilus Productions has added new stock footage of the W.E. Hutton formerly known as the Papoose shipwreck. The Hutton was torpedoed by the U-124 in March of 1942 and became a blazing inferno before sinking.

 

#NautilusProductions #Hutton #Papoose #stockfootage #stockvideo #sandtiger #sharks #shipwreck #marinelife #atlantic #outerbanks

New Nautilus Sand Tiger Stock Footage!

 

Nautilus Productions has added two new Sand Tiger shark clips from the wrecks of the Aeolus, an artificial reef and the Caribsea, a WWII casualty!

#NautilusProductions #sharkfest #sharkweek #stockfootage #stockvideo #sandtiger #sharks #shipwreck #marinelife #atlantic #outerbanks

Nautilus Productions on National Geographic's Shark Fest 2022!

Check out Nautilus Productions' Sand Tiger shark footage on the "Shark Attack Files - Wrecked" airing Thursday, July 21st. "On the North Carolina coastline, a spear fisherman dives a shipwreck and encounters a gang of aggressive sharks. It's a terrifying incident, but sharks are moving into ocean graveyards across the globe. Now, investigators are on a mission to find out why sharks are drawn to these human-made structures…and if there is something about their design that might trigger them to attack."  READ MORE

https://www.natgeotv.com/za/shows/nationalgeographicwild/shark-attack-files

#NautilusProductions #sharkfest #sharkweek #stockfootage #stockvideo #sandtiger #sharks #shipwreck #marinelife #nationalgeographic

450,000 Views of Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge!

Blackbeard the pirate's flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, was discovered in 1996 by Intersal, Inc. Join Nautilus Productions & underwater archaeologists from the Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge Shipwreck Project as they explore the 300 year old wreck site near Beaufort Inlet, NC. Blackbeard/Queen Anne's Revenge (QAR) stock footage can be licensed from Nautilus Productions.  MORE

#artsandentertainment #piracy #northcarolina #shipwreck #shipwrecklaw #maritimeheritage #Pirates #NautilusProductions #Blackbeard #Documentary #StockFootage #Archaeology #EdwardThache #copyright #QueenAnnesRevenge #McCrory #history #FriendsofQAR #NCDNCR #BlackbeardsLaw #NCFilm #Blackbeard300 #IntellectualProperty #lawsuit #SovereignImmunity #SCOTUS #SupremeCourt