Kansas residents who have taken trips to North Carolina may be aware of the state’s connection to the pirate Blackbeard. Since Blackbeard’s ship the Queen Anne’s Revenge was discovered off North Carolina’s coast in 1996, a tourist industry has been built around it. Historians believe that the ship sank there almost 300 years ago.
In April, a lawsuit was filed against North Carolina’s Department of Cultural Resources concerning images of the Queen Anne’s Revenge. The petition, filed by a shipwreck-hunting company called Intersal Inc., claims that images of artifacts that were discovered on the ship violate an existing contract. Intersal Inc. is seeking contract remedies in the amount of $14 million for contract violations and lost revenue.
According to the claim, the images of artifacts from Blackbeard’s ship that have been displayed on websites operated by the state of North Carolina have no watermark or time code stamp on them. Intersal Inc. claims that displaying the images without the watermark or time code stamp is a contract violation. However, the state of North Carolina has responded to the lawsuit by denying the allegations. Representatives from the two parties are expected to take part in mediation sometime before June 29.
When a contract is violated, one party that signed the contract may suffer financial losses as a result of the breach. A business owner that has suffered losses because of a breach of contract may be able to claim financial compensation from the party that violated the contract. An attorney may be able to help a business owner in this situation to assess the damages and pursue litigation.
Source: Fox News, “Shipwreck company suing state over ‘treasure’ linked to Blackbeard: $14M in contract dispute,” the Associated Press, May 5, 2015
