I'm in Trouble Again... No Surprise!

 

When I was arrested in 2019 the officer told me: "I don't want to arrest you, Ben. I can tell you're a good guy." I replied: "Thanks, Simon, but we live in a world under tyranny; good guys are going to get into trouble.", see: https://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2019/09/brexit-protest-2-bojo-revolution.html. My goodness wasn't I right! Regular readers will think of numerous examples of good guys getting into trouble and now you can add me to that list. A few weeks ago I received a strange email:
 
Dear Ben,
We are contacting you regarding the use of our imagery on your website hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com. We don't have any record of our content being licensed for this use. This email outlines the situation and the steps you need to take to resolve the matter.
Use of PA Media Images
PA Media is the national news agency for the UK and Ireland. We own the copyright to images taken by our photographers. We have noticed that you are currently using 1 image(s) from our collection on your website hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com.
Licence Fee: 375.00
Licensing
All PA images must be licensed before use. If your organisation does have a valid licence, please upload it via our case portal (details below). If we’ve contacted you in error, please accept our apologies. By sending us the licence, we can close the case.
If you don't have a licence, your use of our imagery would constitute an infringement of our copyright, and you need to take action to resolve this situation.
Solution:
You need to purchase a licence to cover your use by using our case portal.
We are requesting the payment of £468.75 (including our administration fee). If you resolve the matter within seven days, we offer a 10% early settlement discount.
Once you have purchased the licence, you will be cleared to continue using the image(s) and the past use will be covered by your payment.
Note that removal alone does not resolve the matter.
Please refer to our Frequently Asked Questions in the case portal for answers to common questions regarding copyright protection.
Kind regards,
PA Media Group Infringements Team
 
The letter had no signature. My first thought was that this was some kind of scam, but then I received a reminder that included some additional warnings:
 
Compensation is due for your past use of our image(s), you need to purchase a licence using our case portal. We are requesting the payment of £468.75 (including our Administration Fee). Once you have purchased the licence, you will be cleared to continue using the image(s) and your past use will be covered by your payment, closing this case.
Note that removal alone does not resolve the matter.
We reserve the right to add additional fees to our settlement request that cover any additional costs incurred if you do not resolve your breach of our copyright by paying our settlement request. This could be in the form of interest as well as legal fees.
Copyright owners suffer damages when images are used without permission. Their exclusivity diminishes, and they ultimately lose value. If you have not already removed the imagery from your site, please do this immediately. However, removal of the imagery alone does not resolve the possible infringement, and payment is still due for the time it has been online.
 
This time the email began with just "Hi" and they did not address me by name; and again there was no signature. The image they're referring to is this one:

I used it to illustrate this article: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2025/05/why-i-did-not-vote-reform.html. "PA Media Group" actually does exist. It seems this is not a scam and they are seriously chasing me down for what they believe is copyright infringement. I was shocked, but decided to reply thus:
 
Dear Copyright Enforcement Group
I have reviewed your policy and current copyright law. I have taken appropriate legal advice and I am confident that I have reproduced the image concerned in accordance with the Fair Use guidelines of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act of 1988 and section 17 of the USC 107.
1. For the purposes of private study or research.
2. For the purposes of criticism and review.
3. Free distribution, not for profit.
Therefore I respectfully decline your offer to purchase a licence.
Regards.
Ben Emlyn-Jones
 
I didn't hear anything for almost two weeks and started to wonder if I had misread the situation and that this really was just an elaborate attempted swindle, but then I received a reply from somebody calling themselves "Adam"; this is the first time any of the PA Media Group has divulged their name to me in correspondence:
 
Hello Ben,
Thank you for your email.
In regards fair use, we are aware there are exceptions for teaching and private study, which allows teachers and students to use images in classrooms and essays, however this does not extend to placing the images online so your use would not be covered by this exception. The UK is one of the many jurisdictions that an unauthorised user can be pursued for copyright infringement, under English law, fair dealing doesn't apply to photographs used for news reporting purposes. Additionally, to contend that the photograph was used for review and criticism rather than news reporting purposes, under fair dealing in the UK this requires (a) that there was an acknowledgement acknowledging the source of the image in the instant case, there was no such acknowledgement; and (b) that the use was fair – and, for the same reasons discussed above, the use wasn't fair.
As the website owner, it is your responsibility to ensure all content uploaded to your site holds the appropriate licence from the rights holder to do so.
It is important that you understand photographers and organisations such as PA make their living from the licensing of their images, and without these payments, they would not be able to continue to take the great images that we all need.
This is why we ask for the settlement fee to be paid.
Thanks
Adam
 
Now, I'm quite sure some midwit smart Alec reader is currently about to comment something like: "But Ben, he's right! This is a copyright infringement because of ABC and XYZ!" Now, I'm not a hundred percent certain they're not technically correct. I based my reply off information I gained from a media solicitor in 2015 after this disreputable affair, see: https://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2015/07/ben-emlyn-jones-is-innocent.html. However, even if this is a valid breach of copyright, it is one so petty as to be inconsequential. It is the kind of thing social media users do all the time; finding a viral picture on the same platform and downloading it to add to their own post. I don't accept that the simple reproduction of an image that is viral on social media anyway can adversely affect a photographer's career. PA Media should either be sending these demands for money to millions of people around the world or not be sending them at all. Why have I been singled out? Am I just unlucky? Am I the loser in some kind of negative postcode lottery? I began to smell a rat. One phenomenon I am very familiar with, and wish I wasn't, is legal or disciplinary action from officialdom that is portrayed as fair, simple and superficial, but really has an ulterior motive that is never spoken of. If that ulterior motive were not present then the action would never be taken. This is what happened to Richard D Hall, see: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2024/07/rdh-lawsuit-mini-portal.html and Helen Duncan, see: https://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2020/02/helen-duncan-portal.html; and I could mention numerous other examples. It has already happened to me before, see: https://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2025/01/thirteen-years-on.html. There are other strange coincidences at play here, such as Marianna Spring blocking me; how does she even know who I am? See: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2023/05/blocked-by-marianna-spring.html. What's more, at exactly the same time another friend of mine in the Conspirasphere has told me he is being sued for copyright infringement. (I can't give details now, but soon I hopefully will be able to.) When I got the first email I did originally consider simply paying up. It's a lot of money, but once it's over with they'll leave me alone. As I became more suspicious I started to doubt that. There are probably dozens of illustrations I've included over the years I've been doing HPANWO that technically need licensing. If I capitulate they'll come after me even more, using my acquiescence as a legal precedent, tantamount to an admission of guilt on my part. And, as I predicted, last Wednesday I received yet another threat-o-gram from the PA Media Group. It was exactly the same template as the first one, making exactly the same demand; but, sure enough, it was for the use of another image, this one:

I used it in this article: https://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2013/01/jimmy-savile-in-hospital-satanic.html. This time they want £792.50, again with an early settlement discount. It's been on the page for almost thirteen years. This is very strange. People who distribute online movies illegally are treated more leniently than I have been. They usually only get their upload deleted and, after a number of violations, their account banned. Occasionally persistent and organized offenders are prosecuted. These people are not even giving me the option of apologizing and simply removing the image. If they had done so I'd probably have agreed. If they have their way they will be billing me for every image I've used with this copyright status, and goodness knows how much I'll have to pay. For the reasons I've stated, I have decided to fight this case. If there is an ulterior motive at play then I am not going to humour their dishonesty by pretending that their platitudes are the legitimate basis for their case. I will make sure I am clear and comprehensive about why I am resisting. What will happen next? No doubt I will receive more blackmail letters. We'll soon see how far they are willing to escalate this matter. I have clearly said or done something recently that has had my card stamped. I can't think right now what it might be; possibly my dedicated defence of Richard D Hall, or my persistence in claming the Pentyrch incident is real, see: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2025/10/pentyrch-ufo-mini-portal.html. I have had weird phone calls before, see: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2019/01/strange-phone-call.html. This is a worrying situation for me, but I have no right to back down. Others have faced far worse. What would I say to all the children imprisoned by the government if I just took the knee and paid up? I will keep readers updated as soon as it is necessary.