I for one welcome our new photo taking overlords.
Clearly, the NPG has been taking suspicious photographs, and the Met should raid them. I'm sure at least one of the photographers is suspiciously tall.
On the legal side of this, the NPG should have required that the images only be accessed from UK IP addresses (ala BBC iPlayer) if it wanted to ensure that UK jurisdiction would hold on the images. Since that didn't occur, we're now placed in a position where the WMF is liable in a UK civil court to the NPG, but such proceedings are not extraditable, (Unlike McKinnon, etc, who were found to be in violation of US criminal law) so its impossible to enforce a ruling.
In the end, the NPG has 3 options:
1. Sue WMF, or the original uploader in a UK court. While this would not apply to them while they remain in the United States, if they were to travel to somewhere where UK civil judgements apply, or have assets in such a place, the ruling could be enforced.
2. Attempt to sue in a US court. This would be pissing away money. The images are not protected in the US.
3. Drop the legal stuff. Since a decision cannot be enforced on WMF or the uploader, the most economical move for the NPG at this point is to probably end legal proceedings, and use a nasty press release to talk about how WMF is screwing them.
The legal premise here is the same as you'd run into in the if a work was protected in the US and not protected wherever you happen to be. Provided you did not violate a criminal law while obtaining the images, someone in the United States cannot succesfully sue you for copyright violations, and recover damages. (Specifically, I'm thinking of older songs that have fallen out of copyright elsewhere, but remain copyrighted in the US.)
Biting the hand that feeds IT
