“The repeal came after eight years of litigation and is apparently triggered by the State’s realization that it had no legitimate defense to at least one of the federal court claims: that Blackbeard’s Law was a constitutionally prohibited ‘Bill of Attainder’ — a bill that targets and harms an...
The plaintiff - Intersal, Inc. argues that, after it spend a decade locating the wreck of the Queen Anne’s Revenge (QAR), the parties entered into a contract (the 2013 Agreement) to govern the treatment of the digital media and other matters related to the QAR but that the North Carolina...
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 8th, 2023, filmmaker Frederick Allen of Nautilus...
Like most conflicts, matters between Intersal (the salvage and recovery company who discovered the Queen Anne's Revenge), Nautilus (the site's video crew), and the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources didn't start with rivalry or sides. It started small and friendly, a group of...
“After this ruling, and you’re an artist and your painting’s in the North Carolina Museum of Art or you post a photo of a North Carolina lighthouse on your website or you write a piece of music and they’re playing it in a North Carolina museum, the state has every right to take it and infringe...
Supreme Court justices frown on state's public display of pirate ship's salvage
Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor said it was "deeply troubling" that after North Carolina was caught with copyrighted material and agreed to pay a fine, the state legislature enacted "Blackbeard's Law" to convert...
The justices will decide whether an underwater videographer can sue North Carolina for posting his images of the wreckage of a sunken pirate ship. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/02/us/politics/supreme-court-blackbeard-piracy.html
The complaints specify that DNCR Deputy Secretary Kevin Cherry, as Secretary & Treasurer of the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association, solicited funds to be used for a commercial tour of QAR artifacts and the making of QAR artifact replicas, which DNCR planned without the...
In 2015, according to a complaint filed in federal court, North Carolina pirated footage of Blackbeard flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge. Then North Carolina passed "Blackbeard's Law" to justify that misuse. Rick Allen of Nautilus Productions is now taking his case to the Supreme Court of the...
Intersal contends in its lawsuit that the state breached a contract that gave Intersal some exclusivity to images, video and other renditions of the wreck and its artifacts. The suit also accuses the nonprofit Friends of Queen Anne’s Revenge organization of interfering in the contract. “Our case...
North Carolina claims shipwreck images and video in its custody are N.C. property in intellectual property rights grab. The law passed in 2015 is still on the books. https://nautilusproductions.com/blog/1384-2
The videographer accusing the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and the State of North Carolina of copyright infringement regarding images related to the Queen Anne’s Revenge has filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a lower court’s July 2018 decision that...
The conference took place on May 4, 2018 with the stated aim of resolving legal action brought against NC DNCR in 2015 by Intersal, for failure to implement a 2013 Settlement Agreement connected to the Queen Anne's Revenge - Blackbeard shipwreck. Despite requesting the mediation, NC DNCR failed...
A lawsuit that persists in federal court, a documentary filmmaker accuses North Carolina of committing a modern form of treasure looting: using his copyrighted underwater footage without permission. "Pirates come in many forms," attorneys for Fayetteville-based videographer Frederick Allen said...
North Carolina asked the Fourth Circuit on Thursday to dismiss a lower court ruling that said the state pirated stock footage a North Carolina company had shot of the 18th Century pirate ship the Queen Anne’s Revenge. Nautilus Productions worked with the state to get access to the wreck and has...
After the discovery of Blackbeard's commanding ship, the rescuers and the state came to a mutual understanding and agreement that allowed Intersal to create photos and videos of the wreckage which they could copyright. This was agreed by both parties in 1998. However, in 2015 a new law was...
Hey Hunters,
Have any of you done any hunting in BVI? We are looking to film down there, and wondering if any of you have been down there or know of a specific spot that we should go to & dive/hunt for treasure.
Please let me know if you have anything, or if you know anyone that's done work...
Intersal, Inc., the Florida-based company which found the wreck of Blackbeard the Pirate's flagship Queen Anne's Revenge ("QAR") in 1996 at Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina, has filed complaints with the North Carolina Ethics Commission against two North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural...
Like major theft on the high seas, the infringement of copyright is known as "piracy," and is considered a serious crime. U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle has correctly shot down an attempt by North Carolina's Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and others to dismiss a lawsuit...
A video producer who produced video of the excavation of a pirate ship is now suing the State of North Carolina and others for piracy. Nautilus Productions LLC, who served as a videographer for the Queen Anne’s Revenge shipwreck project, is charging copyright infringement and arguing against the...