USA TODAY by Richard Wolf 11/5/2019
Aarrr, matey! Supreme Court justices frown on state's public display of pirate ship's salvage operation
The Supreme Court appeared likely Tuesday to rule that North Carolina's display of a 300-year-old pirate ship's salvage operation amounts to piracy.
The justices were called to referee a dispute between the state and a video production company that has spent two decades documenting the salvage of the Queen Anne's Revenge, which the legendary pirate Blackbeard ran aground in 1718.
While the debate focused on the intricacies of federal copyright law and states' sovereign immunity, Blackbeard wasn't far from the justices' minds.
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 salvage effort to public record.
More:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/11/05/legendary-pirate-blackbeards-shipwreck-sails-supreme-court/4166346002/