No. 18-877October Term 2019Decided Mar 23, 2020
Allen v. Cooper
This case arose after North Carolina used copyrighted photos and videos of Blackbeard’s shipwreck recovery without permission, and the copyright holder sued the State for infringement.
Case status
- Current stage
- Decided
- Latest event
- Decision released Mar 23, 2020
- What it's about
This case arose after North Carolina used copyrighted photos and videos of Blackbeard’s shipwreck recovery without permission, and the copyright holder sued the State for infringement. The Supreme Court considered whether Congress had the constitutional power to let private copyright owners sue states for money damages under the Copyright Remedy Clarification Act.
Question presented
Whether Congress validly abrogated state sovereign immunity via the Copyright Remedy Clarification Act, Pub. L. No. 101-553, 104 Stat. 2749 (1990), in providing remedies for authors of original expression whose federal copyrights are infringed by States.
- Case path
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit / Decision released Mar 23, 2020
- Area
Decided Supreme Court case
Timing
Decided March 23, 2020
The Court released its decision on March 23, 2020 without hearing oral argument.
Related cases
Grounding
- Grounding
- Primary-source trail available.
- Note
- Plain-English explainer. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.
- Checked
- Jul 3, 2026
- Method
- Methodology