Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge

Piratical N.C. Copyright Law Deep-Sixed by Blackbeard Videographer ! In a story line the infamous pirate himself would love, North Carolina has repealed its own “ Blackbeard's Law .” The law, passed in 2015, had targeted famous underwater photographer Rick Allen and his footage of Blackbeard’s flagship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge by converting all photography and videos of shipwrecks that came into State hands into public records that the State could use without payment. The State apparently hopes this will end a lawsuit...but it won’t. The backstory is almost as old as the law. In 2013, North Carolina’s Department of Natural and Cultural Resources violated copyrights owned by Allen and his company, Nautilus Productions—and paid $15,000 to settle their copyright infringement claim. Desperate to keep using Allen’s unique footage but unwilling to pay, the State passed “Blackbeard’s Law” and the State resumed its buccaneering ways.   Nautilus and Allen answered with their own broadsi...

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 enti...

Piracy Continues, But It's Not Blackbeard! November 22, 1719: Lt. Robert Maynard of the HMS Pearl complains to the Lords of the Admiralty that the bounty due to him for killing and capturing Blackbeard and his crew has not been paid. The petition states that "you refuse to distribute among them the Prize Money for taking Teach the Pirate, according to the Articles of Agreement, on which they undertook to go upon that Action, as also you have used them hardly in several other respects, and their Lordsp. are pleased to direct that you return a very particular answer to the whole."   The bounties for Blackbeard and his crew are as follows; Edward Thach Capt.               £200 Hezekia Hands, Master           £40 John Carnes                      ...

A Battle is Brewing !    November 21, 1718: Lt. Robert Maynard and sixty of his troops from the HMS Pearl , dispatched by Virginia Gov. Alexander Spotswood, arrive at Ocracoke, N.C. with a pair of sloops. The Jane and the Ranger spy Blackbeard's sloop Adventure [II] at anchor. Trouble is on the horizon...  READ MORE    #artsandentertainment #piracy #northcarolina #shipwreck #shipwrecklaw #maritimeheritage #Pirates #NautilusProductions #Blackbeard #Documentary #StockFootage #Privateer #Archaeology #EdwardThache #copyright #QueenAnnesRevenge #McCrory #FriendsofQAR #NCDNCR #BlackbeardsLaw #NCFilm #Blackbeard300 #IntellectualProperty #lawsuit #SovereignImmunity #SCOTUS #SupremeCourt #OuterBanks #ourflagmeansdeath