Appeals Court Torpedoes Revised Blackbeard Ship Copyright Suit

A videographer’s re-worked suit against the state of North Carolina over his copyrighted footage of Blackbeard’s pirate ship impermissibly relies on new arguments raised far too late, the Fourth Circuit said.

Frederick Allen could and must have raised his alternate constitutional theory before the US Supreme Court shot down his other theory in 2020, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled Friday. The decision reverses a 2021 lower court ruling allowing Allen to amend the complaint and renders moot a 2024 finding his allegations qualified as a viable claim of a “takings clause” violation.

The precedential opinion ...