NCR spokeswoman Cary Cox said Thursday morning the agency had not yet been served with the suit, but that she was confident the agency "handled this situation in an appropriate and proper manner." In July, Cox said the legislation has no effect on any current agreements, and the text of the bill says it applies only to agreements entered into or renewed after the law took effect in August.
"As caretakers of archival records who care strongly about openness in government and public records, House Bill 184 is part of an ongoing effort of the Department of Cultural Resources’ desire to clarify what is a public record and when it can be made available to the public," Cox said in a July 29 email.
In the lawsuit, attorneys with Nautilus say the state has already used the law to argue against a separate $8.2 million lawsuit by another company, Intersal Inc., which in 1996 discovered the wreck about a mile off the coast of Atlantic Beach. Intersal's suit says the state breached its contract with the company, which it renegotiated in 2013, to share rights and proceeds from media and artifact tours associated with the Queen Anne's Revenge. Nautilus was not a party to that suit, although the company has worked with Intersal to document the shipwreck's recovery since 1998.
By improperly displaying thousands of images from the Queen Anne's Revenge site and violating other parts of the agreement, the Intersal suit alleges, the state has impacted the company's ability to make back its investment in the search for the ship.
Read more at http://www.wral.com/photographer-suing-state-over-blackbeard-shipwreck-footage-/15150138/#qWtlKs477gZDVZlB.99