VOA慢速英语2019 美国最高法院将听审一起关于18世纪著名海盗黑胡子的案例

Blackbeard’s Ship Comes to the US Supreme¹ Court

The pirate known as Blackbeard terrorized the Atlantic coast of North America in the early 1700s. In a few months, the United States Supreme Court will hear a case related to Blackbeard’s ship. The case involves a filmmaker who claims the rights to images of the ship belong to him, not the state of North Carolina.

被称为黑胡子的这名海盗在18世纪初肆虐于北美的大西洋沿岸。几个月后，美国最高法院将会审理一起跟黑胡子的海盗船有关的案件。该案件涉及一名电影制片人，他声称该船的图片版权属于他，而不属于北卡罗莱纳州。

Here is what happened. Back in 1718, Blackbeard was sailing a ship named the Queen Anne’s Revenge, after a former queen of England. One day the Queen Anne’s Revenge and a smaller ship went into a harbor now known as Beaufort Inlet, in North Carolina. The water was not very deep, and the ships ran into the sand. (Blackbeard may have grounded the ships on purpose, but that is another story.)

以下是事情原委。 回到1718年，海盗黑胡子驾驶着一艘名为安妮女王复仇号的海盗船，它是用前英格兰女王的名字命名的。有一天，安妮女王复仇号和一艘更小的船驶入了北卡罗莱纳州现在的波福特湾。这里的水不是很深，船陷入了泥沙里。（黑胡子可能故意让这些船搁浅，但那是另一个故事。）

Blackbeard abandoned the Queen Anne’s Revenge, along with a number of its crew members. He and a few of his favorite pirates escaped with valuable treasure.

黑胡子和一些船员放弃了安妮女王复仇号，他和一些亲信海盗带着财宝跑了。

A few months later, Blackbeard was killed by British forces. And, in time, the Queen Anne’s Revenge disappeared under the water. In U.S. law, the sunken ship and everything on it belongs to the state of North Carolina.

几个月后，黑胡子被英军打死了。而且，随着时间的推移，安妮女王复仇号也消失在水底。根据美国法律，沉船及其所有附属物都归北卡罗莱纳州所有。

The legal battle

法律纠纷

Jump to the year 1996. A private company found the remains² of the Queen Anne’s Revenge. The company used divers³ and archeologists to explore the wreckage⁴ and bring the artifacts to the surface.

回到1996年，一家私人企业找到了安妮女王复仇号的沉船残骸。该公司利用潜水员和考古学家探索这一船只残骸并将文物带回了地面。

A media company, Nautilus Productions, took pictures and videos of the recovery effort. The co-owner of the media company, Frederick Allen, received federal copyright protection over the images. In other words, U.S. national law says no one can use the images without getting the company’s permission and paying Nautilus.

一家名为Nautilus Productions的媒体公司拍摄了打捞作业的照片和视频。这家媒体公司的共有人弗雷德里克·艾伦（Frederick Allen）获得了对这些图像的联邦版权。换句话说，美国法律规定，未经这家公司允许并支付费用，任何人不得使用这些图像。

Yet North Carolina state officials used some of the images on YouTube and a state agency website without permission – some would claim the officials “pirated” them. The state government also passed a law to make some of the images into public records, free for anyone to use.

然而，北卡罗来纳州官员在未经许可的情况下，在YouTube和一家该州的机构网站上使用了其中一些图片，有人会称这些官员盗用了这些图片。州政府还通过了一项法律，将其中一些图片制作成公共档案，任何人都可以免费使用。

In answer, Nautilus co-owner Frederick Allen brought legal action against the state of North Carolina.

作为应对，Nautilus公司的共有人艾伦对北卡罗来纳州发起了诉讼。

At issue is whether states must pay damages for copyright violations⁵. Historically, the U.S. Constitution and some earlier court cases have protected states against lawsuits⁶. But in 1990, the U.S. Congress passed a law allowing states to be sued for illegal copying.

问题在于各州是否必须为侵犯版权支付赔偿金。从历史上看，美国宪法和一些早期的法庭案件保护了各州免受诉讼。但在1990年，美国国会通过了一项法律，允许起诉非法复制的各州。

A lower court said the 1990 law is not constitutional. Congress did not have the power to make such a law, the lower court said. As a result, a judge dismissed Allen’s case.

一家下级法院称这项1990年通过的法律违宪。这家下级法院称国会没有权利制定这样的法律，因此，法官驳回了艾伦的案子。

So now, Allen is taking his argument to the U.S. Supreme Court. He says states are breaking federal law and then refusing to pay damages for their violations. He also says people who create original work need a way to object when states ignore copyright laws.

所以现在，艾伦正在向最高法院提起诉讼。他说，各州违法联邦法律并且拒绝支付赔偿金，当各州无视版权法时，作品原创者需要有途径来反对这种行为。

The Supreme Court has agreed only to hear the case. The justices will likely make a ruling on it next year.

最高法院只同意审理这起案件，法官们可能会在明年做出裁决。

I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

Words in This Story

pirate - n. someone who attacks and steals from a ship at sea

harbor - n. a part of the ocean that is next to land and that is protected and deep enough to provide safety for ships

abandon - v. to leave and never return to

artifact - n. object that was made by people in the past

sue - v. to use a legal process by which you try to get a court of law to force a person, company, or organization that has treated you unfairly or hurt you in some way to give you something or to do something

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 divers   

adj.不同的；种种的

参考例句：

• He chose divers of them,who were asked to accompany him.他选择他们当中的几个人，要他们和他作伴。
• Two divers work together while a standby diver remains on the surface.两名潜水员协同工作，同时有一名候补潜水员留在水面上。

4 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

5 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

6 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句