Blackbeard Copyright
Lawsuit Sails Forward in NC!
North Carolina’s
Department of Natural and Cultural Resources received a stern reminder that
those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it. The lesson came on
Friday, August 30, from Judge Terrence Boyle, in a lawsuit involving DNCR’s
repeated piracy of documentary footage created by videographer Rick Allen: unique underwater images of Blackbeard’s
flagship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge.
Judge Boyle’s ruling
allows Allen to proceed with his claims against DNCR. “Allen has plausibly
stated a claim that the DNCR infringed on his copyrights. It is undisputed that
Allen holds valid copyrights in the materials he alleges th[at] DNCR infringed…
Allen provides detailed accounts of his copyrights and the DNCR's alleged
infringements of specific copyrights by copying, displaying, distributing, and
performing his works without permission online and in a state museum.”
This isn’t the first time
DNCR has faced liability for pirating Allen’s work. In 2013, DNCR violated
copyrights in videography of Queen Anne’s Revenge owned by Allen and his
company, Nautilus Productions—and paid $15,000 to settle that copyright
infringement claim. Desperate to keep using the images, but unwilling to pay,
the State passed “Blackbeard’s
Law” (so named because its target was Allen’s valuable images of
Blackbeard’s flagship). The law converted all photographs and video of
shipwrecks that came into State hands into “public records” that the State
could use without payment. Allen and Nautilus filed a federal lawsuit in 2015,
and after eight years of litigation, on June 30, 2023, North Carolina Gov. Roy
Cooper signed a bill repealing Blackbeard's Law. But DNCR continued to follow Blackbeard’s
own piratical ethics, arguing that even without Blackbeard’s Law, Allen’s valuable
footage was still the “property of the people” of North Carolina, which DNCR could
continue copying without payment. Now, Judge Boyle’s ruling reminds DNCR that
pirates—including State pirates—can look forward to walking the plank.
“We are grateful to Judge Boyle for his ruling!”
stated Allen. “Our number one focus continues to be protecting the rights of
all artists and creators from theft of their creative works by states and state
agencies. North Carolina’s claim that it can sue its citizens for copyright
infringement, but face no liability for its own state-led copyright theft, is not
only unethical, but unconstitutional.”
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 the taxpayers of North
Carolina. Nautilus’ footage of Blackbeard’s shipwreck has aired worldwide on
the BBC, the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, PBS, National Geographic
and many more.
The shipwreck was discovered in 1996 by Intersal, Inc. which has filed a separate
breach of contract lawsuit against North Carolina and its Department of Natural
and Cultural Resources in state court.
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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