On August 18, 2015, then

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

Governor

Pat McCrory Patrick Lloyd McCrory (born October 17, 1956) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 74th governor of North Carolina from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 53rd mayor of Charlotte ...

(R) signed "Blackbeard's Law," N.C. General Statute §121-25(b), into law. The

statute A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

stated that,

"All photographs, video recordings, or other documentary materials of a derelict vessel or
shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. It results from the event of ''shipwrecking'', which may be intentional or unintentional. There were approximately thre ...
or its contents, relics, artifacts, or historic materials in the custody of any agency of the North Carolina government or its subdivisions shall be a public record pursuant to G.S. 132-1. There shall be no limitation on the use of or no requirement to alter any such photograph, video recordings, or other documentary material, and any such provision in any agreement, permit, or license shall be void and unenforceable as a matter of public policy."

The statute was inserted into another bill by Representatives

Norman Sanderson Norman Wesley Sanderson Jr. (born July 7, 1951) is a Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the North Carolina General Assembly, representing the state's second North Carolina Senate, Senate district, which includes Carteret Count ...

(R - Pamlico) and Jim Davis (R - Macon) at the request of the

North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is a cabinet-level department within the state government of North Carolina dedicated to overseeing projects in the arts, culture, and history within the borders of the state. The cur ...

(NCDNCR). One year later, the

North Carolina Legislature The North Carolina General Assembly is the bicameral legislature of the state government of North Carolina. The legislature consists of two chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Vested with the state's legislative power by the ...

amended the statute to read, "All photographs, video recordings, or other documentary materials of a derelict vessel or shipwreck or its contents, relics, artifacts, or historic materials in the custody of any agency of North Carolina

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

or its subdivisions shall be a

public record Public records are documents or pieces of information that are not considered confidential and generally pertain to the conduct of government. Depending on jurisdiction, examples of public records includes information pertaining to births, deat ...

pursuant to Chapter 132 of the General Statutes." The moniker "Blackbeard's Law" refers to the pirate

Blackbeard Edward Teach (or Thatch; – 22 November 1718), better known as Blackbeard, was an English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of Britain's North American colonies. Little is known about his early life, but he ma ...

and was first penned by reporter Paul Woolverton of the ''Fayetteville Observer''.

Legal issues and the United States Supreme Court

In 2013 and 2015, the state government of

uploaded Nautilus Productions videos of the wreck of the ''

Queen Anne's Revenge ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' was an early-18th-century ship, most famously used as a flagship by Edward Teach, better known by his nickname Blackbeard. The date and place of the ship's construction are uncertain, and there is no record of its action ...

'' to

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

and the NC State Government Website Archives & Access Program Social Media Archive without permission. Before posting the videos detailed in the litigation, the North Carolina Legislature passed "Blackbeard's Law", N.C. General Statute §121-25(b). As a result, on December 1, 2015, Nautilus, which had documented the

shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. It results from the event of ''shipwrecking'', which may be intentional or unintentional. There were approximately thre ...

recovery for nearly two decades, filed suit in federal court against North Carolina, NCDNCR and the Friends of ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' non-profit over

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...

violations and the passage of "Blackbeard's Law" by the North Carolina legislature. On November 5, 2019, the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

heard oral arguments in ''

Allen v. Cooper The Copyright Remedy Clarification Act (CRCA) is a United States copyright law that attempted to abrogate sovereign immunity of states for copyright infringement. The CRCA amended 17 USC 511(a): Unconstitutionality The CRCA has been struck ...

''. During

oral arguments Oral arguments are spoken presentations to a judge or appellate court by a lawyer (or parties when representing themselves) of the legal reasons why they should prevail. Oral argument at the appellate level accompanies written briefs, which also ...

, Justice

Sonia Sotomayor Sonia Maria Sotomayor (, ; born June 25, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served since ...

opined that, "the Blackbeard law does trouble erdeeply." On March 23, 2020, the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

ruled in favor of North Carolina and struck down the

Copyright Remedy Clarification Act The Copyright Remedy Clarification Act (CRCA) is a United States copyright law that attempted to abrogate sovereign immunity of states for copyright infringement. The CRCA amended 17 USC 511(a): Unconstitutionality The CRCA has been struck ...

, which Congress passed in 1989 to attempt to curb such infringements of copyright by states. As a result of the ruling, Nautilus filed a motion for reconsideration in the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina The United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina (in case citations, E.D.N.C.) is the United States district court that serves the eastern 44 counties in North Carolina. Appeals from the Eastern District of North Caroli ...

. On August 18, 2021, Judge

Terrence Boyle Terrence William Boyle (born December 22, 1945) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. He was chief judge of that court from 1997 to 2004. He served a second term as chie ...

granted the motion for reconsideration which North Carolina promptly appealed to the

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a United States federal court, federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, district cou ...

. The 4th Circuit denied the state's motion on October 14, 2022. Nautilus then filed their second amended complaint on February 8, 2023, alleging Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment violations of Nautilus'

constitutional rights A constitutional right can be a prerogative or a duty, a power or a restraint of power, recognized and established by a sovereign state or union of states. Constitutional rights may be expressly stipulated in a national constitution, or they may ...

, additional copyright violations, and claiming that North Carolina's "Blackbeard's Law" represents a

Bill of Attainder A bill of attainder (also known as an act of attainder, writ of attainder, or bill of pains and penalties) is an act of a legislature declaring a person, or a group of people, guilty of some crime, and providing for a punishment, often without a ...

. In a press release Nautilus noted that, "North Carolina...and state entities can sue others for copyright infringement and damages. However, U.S. citizens and corporations are legally barred from suing states or state entities for those very same copyright infringements or for damages!” Eight years after the law's passage, on June 30, 2023, North Carolina Gov.

Roy Cooper Roy Asberry Cooper III ( ; born June 13, 1957) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 75th List of governors of North Carolina, governor of North Carolina from 2017 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), De ...

signed a bill repealing Blackbeard's Law.

References

{{reflist

External links

Photographer suing state over Blackbeard shipwreck footage
WRAL-TV

News-Times * ttps://www.escapistmagazine.com/blackbeard-copyright-law-states-rights-north-carolina-supreme-court/ Blackbeard Just Broke Copyright Law, and Now States Are the PiratesThe Escapist
Allen v. Cooper: Back with a (Queen Anne's) Vengeance
IPWatchdog
N.C Supreme Court revives lawsuit over Blackbeard's ship and lost Spanish treasure ship
Fayetteville Observer
Episode 955: Pirate Videos
Planet Money, NPR
SCOTUS considers ‘Blackbeard's Law' in shipwreck copyright suit
World Intellectual Property Review
Justices pillage state arguments for sovereign immunity for copyright infringement
SCOTUS Blog

Patently-O
Blackbeard's Revenge: Sovereign Immunity and Copyright
Plagiarism Today

Charlotte Observer * ttps://ipwatchdog.com/tag/allen-v-cooper/ ''Allen v. Cooper'' IPWatchdog
''Allen v. Cooper''
JDSupra Government of North Carolina North Carolina statutes 2015 in American law Shipwrecks United States copyright law Blackbeard