Judge: Suit about Blackbeard shipwreck videos can go ahead

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – A federal judge says a videographer can go ahead with his lawsuit charging that North Carolina officials illegally copied his videos of the pirate of Blackbeard’s sunken flagship and legislators later passed a law to legalize their actions.

The Fayetteville Observer reports (http://bit.ly/2ocIp9m) U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle ruled last week on videographer Rick Allen’s lawsuit.

Although Boyle dismissed part of the lawsuit, he allowed Allen to proceed with the parts regarding his copyright on photos and videos of Queen Anne’s Revenge and the legality of the copyright law that passed in 2015.

The law says photos, videos and other documentary material from derelict vessels are public record while in the custody of state government.

Blackbeard’s ship went aground in May 1718 in what’s now called Beaufort Inlet.

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Information from: The Fayetteville Observer, http://www.fayobserver.com