The long-running legal battle over the rights to footage of Blackbeard’s sunken flagship is heading back to the nation’s highest court.
Frederick Allen and his company, Nautilus Productions, have announced they will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review their decade-old copyright dispute against the state of North Carolina for a second time. This follows a January ruling from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which unanimously decided that a federal trial judge erred in reopening the case back in 2021.
The dispute began over the state's use of Allen’s videos and photos documenting the recovery of the Queen Anne’s Revenge. While the Supreme Court previously ruled in 2020 that the state had sovereign immunity against the claims, Allen’s legal team attempted to revive the suit using a new constitutional theory.
Attorneys for the state are now urging the courts to dismiss the case with prejudice and finally close the litigation.
