The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled 9-0 that a 1990 law
intended to provide a means of redress against States that commit
copyright infringement is unconstitutional as written, and that
sovereign immunity shields States from being held liable for
copyright infringement. Though most copyright owners do not have to
worry about States infringing their works, the facts of the case
offer an important insight that all owners of any IP should
note.
The case, Allen v. Cooper, began in 1996 when the
pirate Blackbeard’s famed early-18th-century ship, the
Queen Anne’s Revenge, was discovered off the coast
of North Carolina. The State of North Carolina, which owned the
ship by law, contracted with a marine salvage company to recover
the remains, which in turn hired videographer Frederic Allen to
document the salvage project. After Allen accused North Carolina of
copyright infringement when the State published some of
Allen’s photos and videos without paying him or obtaining
