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General Category => National/Breaking News => SCOTUS News => Topic started by: Elderberry on November 06, 2019, 02:16:43 pm

Title: Supreme Court justices frown on state's public display of pirate ship's salvage operation
Post by: Elderberry on November 06, 2019, 02:16:43 pm
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/ (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/11/05/legendary-pirate-blackbeards-shipwreck-sails-supreme-court/4166346002/)
Title: Re: Supreme Court justices frown on state's public display of pirate ship's salvage operation
Post by: conservativevoter on November 06, 2019, 07:55:05 pm
Does that mean that they would also object to the viewing of 'The Planter', a ship stolen by Robert Smalls in 1862?   happy77
Title: Re: Supreme Court justices frown on state's public display of pirate ship's salvage operation
Post by: Elderberry on November 06, 2019, 08:12:06 pm
Quote from: conservativevoter on November 06, 2019, 07:55:05 pm
Does that mean that they would also object to the viewing of 'The Planter', a ship stolen by Robert Smalls in 1862?   happy77

Possibly if a group has salvage rights on the wreck and plan to raise it. Though it appears that only the boilers will be recoverable.

https://www.postandcourier.com/archives/has-the-planter-been-found/article_10bd0507-723c-5736-a673-0439b2a3561d.html (https://www.postandcourier.com/archives/has-the-planter-been-found/article_10bd0507-723c-5736-a673-0439b2a3561d.html)

Quote
Wise said Gordon Watts, an underwater archaeologist with Tidewater Atlantic Research of North Carolina has been searching for the remains and believes he has found something.

“The only thing left are going to be the boilers,” Wise said. “They hit some things they thought were boilers. Of course, Cape Romain is an area where a lot of ships went down.”