When is a video of a pirate shipwreck in the hands of a state government agency classed as public record available to everyone?
State officials in North Carolina have answered this by passing a law that ensures videos of the wreck of the pirate ship Queen Anne’s Revenge are considered a public record.
But US District Judge Terrence Boyle has now allowed a lawsuit to continue by videographer Rick Allen, who is challenging what is known as Blackbeard’s Law, according to local newspaper Fayetteville Observer.
The lawsuit alleges that the legislation, which is named after the historic pirate who captained the Queen Anne’s Revenge, is another kind of piracy: a violation of federal copyright laws. Officials deny the claim.
The state law makes any photos and video of a “derelict vessel or shipwreck” a part of the public record.
Blackbeard ran the Queen Anne’s Revenge aground off North Carolina in 1718. The wreck was found in 1996 by Intersal.
