Allen v. Cooper

Frederick Allen, a videographer, captured footage and photos of the wreck of Blackbeard’s ship, Queen Anne’s Revenge. He registered his works with the Copyright Office. North Carolina, which claimed ownership of the wreck, published Allen’s material online and in a newsletter without permission. Allen sued Governor Roy Cooper for copyright infringement, seeking monetary damages. The state moved to dismiss, invoking sovereign immunity. The district court denied the motion based on the Copyright Remedy Clarification Act (CRCA), which purports to abrogate state immunity. The Fourth Circuit reversed, holding the CRCA invalid. The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to resolve whether Congress had the authority to strip states of their immunity in copyright cases.

The Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the Fourth Circuit's decision. Justice Elena Kagan delivered the opinion holding that the Copyright Remedy Clarification Act unconstitutionally abrogated state sovereign immunity. The Court relied on its precedent in Florida Prepaid, finding no valid constitutional basis for subjecting states to copyright infringement suits without their consent.

Whether Congress had the constitutional authority under Article I’s Intellectual Property Clause to abrogate state sovereign immunity from copyright infringement suits through the Copyright Remedy Clarification Act.

The ruling reinforced the broad scope of state sovereign immunity, severely limiting the ability of authors and artists to recover damages from state entities that infringe their copyrights. It signaled that states could use copyrighted works with relative impunity, prompting calls for Congress to devise alternative incentives or contractual mechanisms to protect intellectual property rights against state government violations.