returned with books containing photographs of early airplanes. After looking at the photographs, plaintiff was satisfied with his own design. Plaintiff retrieved the original drawing from his cell, returned to the Sign Shop, and used the original to make a derivative drawing, which he used to create a silk screen from which to print the design. Plaintiff cut the silk screen and attempted to print the design. He made 12-15 prints, and selected one to be made into a license tag. Once sample letters were pressed into the tag, the tag was placed on Lewis' desk. Within a few days, the tag was given to Strickland. Over the course of the next few months, plaintiff asked Strickland what was happening with the "First in Flight" license tag, andStrickland replied that "people" were still looking at it. (See Pl. Dep. at 57.) When plaintiff quit working at the Sign Shop and transferred to the gym, he was told that "they were still looking at it." (See Pl. Dep. at 57.)
In December 1982 plaintiff was transferred from Central Prison to Odom Farm. Seven or eight months after that, when plaintiff was being driven from court to Central Prison, he saw what he thought was his design on license plates on the backs of cars. In 1995 plaintiff went to work on the Battleship North Carolina. It was then that he was able to verify that his design was being used on the North Carolina license tag. He learned that he could not sue for copyright infringement if