Appeals Court Upholds Beacon In Copyright Infringement Case
BY ftlARJOKIE MEGIVEKN
In a precedent-setting Jan. 23 ruling, the U.S. Fourth
Dbtrict Court of Appeals upheld in its entirety the dec!-
alwi of lower courts in finding 'rhe Brunswick Beacon
should be awarded a pennanent injunction aixl daniages
in its 1984 copyright infringement suit against The Free
Press.
Beacon attorney W. Thad Adams III of Charlotte was
informed Tuesday of the decision by the Fourth District
Clerk of Court in Riclunond, Va.
After hearing an Associated Press radio report o( the
ruling, Adams was told his copy of the order had been
delayed in the niaiis, due to weekend snowstorms.
The .suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Wilm
ington in April 1984. citing three specific infringements of
the copyright law in 1983. The Free Press, another
Shallotte newspaper, was charged with copying ads pro
duced by The Brunswick Beacon and publishing them in
the Free Press after having been notified to dLscontinue
the illegAl practice.
In June 1985, in UJ>. District Court in Wilmington, the
Beacon was awarded damages of $6,000, plus
"reasonable attorney's fees." However, the appeals
court granted a stay of execution of Uic civil judgement
against the Free Press pending a decision in the case.
An order signed by Judge Earl W. Britt four,d the
Free Press guilty of copying the three ads and the
newspaper was permanently enjoined from publishing
further copyrighted material from the Beacon.
Britt liad upheld the earlier findings of federal
Magistrate Charles K. McCottcr Jr., who first Iward oral
arguments In the case on Aug. 30,1984.
The Free Press is owned and published by Bernard
Cliarles (Rocky) and Priscilla (Lou) Hopchas and Mrs.
Hopchas's mother, Caroline Schock.
The Free Press had appealed aU findings of ihe lower
court to the U.S. Court of Appeals, with the publishers
malnlalning they have a right to copy ads from the
Beacon since, in their opinion, the ads arc owned by the
advertisers who place them. They contended the
Beacon’s use of the copyright notice consUtule.s a
restraint of trade and that the paper has no right to
copyright its work-
The Beacon had appealed only the lower court’s
release of Mrs. Schock from personal liability in the case.
The Beacon’s suit was based on the Copyright Act of
i97G, which went into effect Jsn.!, 1978 th* r»yic«iA
law, ownership of advertising created by a newspaper
can be protected by copyright
TTw case has set a legal precedent, in that no
newspaper lias been previously found guilty of copyright
violations. A similar case in i-ouiriena m nisa nuuiUni in
a lower court decision for the plaintiff being reversed by
the Court of Appeals, because uf inadequate notification
of copyright
Eddie Sweatt, ov/ner and publisher of the Beacon
with his wife, Carolyn, was jubilant over last week's rul
ing. “It can only be reviewed now by Uic U.S. Supreme
Court" he said.
Raleigh Attorney l,urry Coaus, who represents TTie
Brunswick Free Press, was in Jamaica and could not be
n*»riio(l for a conunent.
Tt ir
springpuRT
Twenty-fifth Year, Number 12
DCHtUI\
r>l«ir IKI tmjNSWICX HACON
Sholloiie, Norin ^aroiina. Thursday, January 29, Iw/
25c Per Copy
26 Pages Plus Insert
/*
ON HOLDEN BEACH CAUSEWAY
Upposition to Annexation
Continues To Gather Steam
Commissioners Tour Campus
siArr PHOioBr SUSAN usHta
Brunswick Technical College trustees hosted coun^
commissioners on a campus tour Monday, followed by a
steak dinner and slide show at the Sizzling Slrioln
Stcakhouse in Shallotte and cups Inscribed with the col
lege logo, "We Believe In You." Commissioners
reviewed plans for a vocational classroom buUdisg sow
bclug bum as well as for uo auditorium, a combiuadon
administration, library and student center building and
a iSTUiBwick inierHgeucy Progruiu uuiiding, for which
the state has provided $402,500. Much of the new work
will be flnanc^ with proceeds of $9 mllUon in bonds ap
proved in 1985, the first of which will be sold Feb. 17.
From the left above are Grace Beasley, commission
chairman; Regina White, clerk to the commissioners;
Frankie RatHni, commlssloner/trustee; Kelly fiCideu,
trustee; and facing the weidiiig shop, James Rabon,
trustee.
BY ETTA SMITH
Efforts to prevent annexation of
the Holden Beach causeway
gathered momentum this week—and
opponents of the move say they must
continue to move fast or they’ll lose
the cliance altogether.
Opponent Cletis Clemmons .said
unless residents can convince Rep.
E. David "Butch" Redwine and Sen.
R.C. Soles Jr. to help them, the area
will certainly be annexed by Holden
Beach.
Redwine and Soles are expected to
attertd a meeting at 4 p.m. Saturday
at the Seafood Barn Restaurant. At
that meeting, Clemmons said he will
present the two with petitions for
help containing about 74 sighatures.
Soles, of Tabor City, Is a member
of the State Senate’s Municipal Incor
porations Committee. .
Hie latest effort to Incorporate Uic'
area' began after the Holden Beach
town board voted Jan. S to prepare a
notice of intent to annex approi-
iinately 1,500 feet on the waterway
west of the bridge and about 1,000
feet on the east The area also ex
tends one mile down the causeway in
a 55-foot strip.
to
iviuSCd
after he heard that residents in the
preyed area were strongly opposed
to annexatioi'i.
Clemmons said he expects Holden
Beach commissioners to adopt the
noUce of intent to annex at its Feb. 2
meeting, making it harder for
residents to incorporate the proposed
town.
State laws allow towns to annex an
area without the support of the
residents, he said. Also the N.C.
I>cague of Municipalities, a strong
lobbying group, discourages the in*,
corporation of an area to avoid an
nexation.
“But we proposed incorporating
this area back last June, before they
(Holden Beach) ever decided to an
nex," said Gemmons.
Redwine introduced a bill to inc'or-
poratc North Holden Beach in the
N.C. General Assembly last June.
But he dropped the bill after it spark
ed opposiUon from some residents of
the proposed corrmuinity and Holden
Beach officials.
Genuiivsis said propments cf In
corporation would ratlier liavc Uieir
own town tlian be annexed by Holden
Beach. The only reason the town
wants to annex them is for the
$200,000 in property taxes it can get
Ji
UlUk-rVIdl I "
y^CtS
On Wat©r, Town Hall
BY MARJORIE MEGIVERN
Calabash residents wlU get water
and a new town haU, fdlowing town
council action Monday.
The Calabash Town Council voted
to advertise for bids on a town watci
system and awarded a contract for
construcUon of its town haU to
Associate Builders Corp. of North
Myrtle Beach, S.C., on a time con-
Ungency.
A decision on the water sy.stem was
spurred by resident Gordon
Ragsdale, who came to the mecUng
with cost figures he had nsfcmbled
from a develc^r that were about
half those cited in an engineering
study done by Lewis and Associates
of Shallotte.
In response to citizen demands for
acUon on water at the last council
meeting, members began a discus-
siMi of aitematives. Town Attorney
Michael Ramos reported it was im-
rf practical to consider asking the coun- subscribers."
said. "We have ISO potential
sul»cribers now, and we might dou
ble in population by 2005, but the
Sunset Beach system is only
moderately profitable with 600
ty to provide water to Uie town as
though it were an unincorporated
area. “For one Uiing, that would re
quire a feasibility study and it would
take two or three years," he said.
As council members discussed the
advisability of the town operating a
water system, as opposed to turning
the system over completely to the
county, Ragsdale spo’xe up. ‘Tm
uneasy about Calabash running a
water systeni, because we can’t grow
enough to make it profitable." he
Snowfall Was Only A Dusting
Brunswick County Schools closed
today in anticipation of hazardous
road conditions, but the area receiv
ed only a light dusting of snow from a
storm moving up the coast
The National Weather Service late
Monday had predicted a 60 percent
chance of overnight snow accumula
tion in Southeastern North Carolina,
with a 50 percent chance of morning
.snow.
There was snow—a little. Shallotte
Pobit meteorologist Jackson Canady
said when melted It inight add up to
one-tenth of an inch of water.
Still, he said, the depth of winter
has just about arrived for Brunswick
County.
“Overall we’ve fared very well,
though it’s wet," he said. But freezer
like temperatures are still in the
forecast, along with above-average
precipitation.
Nighttime low.s should average in
the low 30s, rising to daytime Idghs
averaging in the lower 5Qs. He ex
pects UireeKiuarters of an inch of
precipitation, mostly rain.
For the period Jan. 21 through 28,
Canady recorded a maximum high of
58 degrees, on the 25th. The
minimum low (tf 23 degrees occurred
on the morning of the 24th.
An averagedaUy high of 49 degrees
combined with an average dally low
of 33 degrees for a daily average
temperature of 41 degrees, about
four degrees below normal.
For the period, Canady recorded
2.65 inches of precipitation, almost
all of it rain.
As for tracings of snow, he said,
"We might get a little more."
Council Member Pati Lewellyn
suggested opening an escrow account
to receive contributions from
residents wanting water. "Then we
could see who’s serious about this
and work on their streets first," she
said.
Ragsdale said, “How about an im
pact fee on evervo.ne Ln town and do
ing it all at once? I don’t sec opening
an account and waiting to see who’ll
pay. That might take from now to
Doomsday."
He then presented estimates on the
cost of running 12,(X)0 feet of line
almg all Calabash streets, (except
where county lines already exist on
N.C. 179) showing the complete job
could be done for about $80,000. The
Lewis study had estimated a cost of
$108,000.
One difference in the two estimate.s
was the coat of fire hydrants. Com
pared to Lewis' $800 per hydrant,
Ragsdale’s figure was $565. “Also,
the number of hydrants can be reduc
ed from the number called for in this
study," he said.
Another difference was in the cost
of the lines. Whereas I^ewis’ estimate
was $6 per foot, Ragsdale's was $3.90.
“The man who gave me these
doesn't want to be Identified, but he’s
just built some homes and these are
current figures. He has nothing to
gain by providing this information."
Ragsdale explained.
Council nvsmbers quickly came to
the conclusion they could build an en
tire system in one phase, and they
yearly from the causiewuy, he
asserted. Clemmons ba.scd that
figure on a lax rate of 2.5-conLs pei
$100 valuation, while the town’s lav
rate is actually 11 cents per $100
vaiuiiliun.
Holden Beach resident Jolm .M
Clarke compiled some properly lav
figures last week from the county lav
records to find out how much tiic
town could actually expect to colled
in taxc.s should it asmex the causeway
area.
He said based on the U-cent tas
rate the causeway area would havt
paid $7,174 in taxes to Holden Beach
this year. He got the figure by using
county tax maps and records, he
said.
Buck said Clarke's figures look ac
curate to him, but the town would
have to compile its own figures.
.Some caiLseway property owners
do favor annexation, like Inland
Realty Owner Caison O’Neil and
CoiTiniuruty Hiirdware owrier Bj"i>
Smith.
At a recent meeting of causeway
residents and property owners, both
said they prefer annexation by Uie
town.
The board hired a surveyor
prepare a description of the metes . .
Carolina Shores Wants Manager
BY SUSAN USHEK
With a decision not to incorporate
behind them, Carolina Shores pro
perty owners arc moving ahead to
meet one of the needs that first pro
mpted talk of becoming a town—full
time management.
The community could have a paid
manager on the job in nine weeks or
less, according to Al Houghton,
chainrian cf the Carolina Shores Pro
perty Owners Association.
Robert Woodbury is chainnan of a
committee appointed to draft a job
description and recruit .someone to
fill the post. Working with him, he
said, are Charles Bingham. Jim
McNamaia. Ken Earl, Peg Sawyer
and Darrell Peters, who serves as
liaison to the property owners
im-
con-
voted to advertise for bids
mediately, with lines to be
stnicted to county specifications.
It was decided to wait until bids are
received, then decide what impact
fees would be assessed on commer
cial and residential pre^rty.
Lewellyn asked, “Why should we
then give the system to the county, if
impact assessments will pay for it?"
Ramos replied that the town could
own the system but lease it to the
county to operate.
“If we advertise for bids, we need
tc say we’re serious about these
assessments," Lewellyn added.
“We'd better enforce them better
than we have with taxes."
She also suggested the town con
tinue to pursue a loan from Farmers
Home Administration, for which ap
plication began several months ago.
Council members then turned their
attention to two bids the town had
received for construction of the town
haU.
Associated Builders submitted a
bid of $28,(K)0 to construct a
952-square-foot building of cedar
siding. Wood Duck Construction of
Supply bid the project at $27,490.75,
for a 900-square-foot metal building
with brick veneer.
Wood Duck representatives
pointed out their plan was for a com
pletely fire-resistant building that
would be almost maintenance-free
and could save on fire insurance.
Lewellyn pointed out the metal
building might not take future expan
sion as easily as the one constructed
of siding.
Members also preferred the ap
pearance of siding.
The contract went to Associated
(See CALABASH, Page 2-A)
association board of directors.
“We’re Just getting .slarte!," said
Woodbury. "We’ve met once and laid
the groundwork. We have ou**
homework to do."
Houghton said the as.sociation Is
working with the I.eagLc of
Municipalities on the project, and
that the person chosen could come
from a town management
background or some other combirm-
tion of education and management
experience, depending upon the
criteria set by the search committee.
The POA expects to recruit locally
and elsewhere, he added.
For now, "lots of volunteers” arc
required to run the community, he
said. Tasks are divided among the
(See CAROLINA Page 2-A)
Plan To Op^ Gun Sh op On
Holden Beach Draws Fire^
BY ftfARJORlE MEGIVERN
Issuance of a permit for a gun shop on Holden Beach has aroused
considerable protest among reddents.
Town Manager Bob Buck said the permit was issued last week If
Jeff Williams and George Atkins, Holden Beach poUco officers. Th8
shop is to be located In the old Holden Beach Realty buOding on Jordan
'is-Boulevard In an area ztmed for commercial establishments.
Town Commterioner Gay Atkins “There’s no ordinance :
sgaum it, untcrttsstsiy, I searcnedlfeo ordinances and didn'tftndaw,
bat I don't tike it I don’t fee! this is the place for it" '
She also explained there te no ordinance or policy prohibiting town
employees fran other en^loyment or business enterprise on thrir own
time.
Margaret Vasco, a Holden Beach resident, said “lots of people"
were very cpsrt over Cie news. ‘Tve called people from one end to the ~
other of this beach, and everyone is against it," she said. "We’ve talked
about a petition, but we realty don’t know wtet to do." 
. According to Vasco, pennittlng a gun shop is contradictory to other
town ordinances. “We have an ordinance against fireworks and agaimt
slingshots, and even against discharging firearms, so how can we allow
die sale of firearrasr’ ^ iudeed. —^ - -
She said this action was “against the concept of a family beach."
Aisb^ she (ktscribed the location, abutting the proposed 904pace parking
lot scon to be built, as “atrocious," adding, “It’s a perfect location to
break Into a gun shop."
. Vasco said residents irjended to tet ptenrJng and sorJng board
m^beia know that “we’ve been deretict In planning."