Assuming that you are not, indeed, the current
incumbent of the British
Throne (otherwise, gosh, greetings, Your Majesty. :-)), I agree, but
that doesn't mean that the image is not under copyright; indeed, the
image is almost certainly under copyright, as PD works are rare outside
of the United States for things newer than the 1920s.
Dude was born in 1879. This photo might
well have been taken before 1923 and gods
know under what copyright laws. British?
Even if it was taken between 1923 and 1935
the photographer might well have died
before 1935, which would put the photo
in the public domain under European laws.
And if the angry guy with the website really
held a license for the picture he'd probably
state its source and author somewhere and not
just froth at the mouth when asked.
He probably feels he *owns* the picture since
he scanned it in or some such.
Anyway, I agree, this... 'individual' seems to
be quite taken with
invective about other's attitude to 'his' website. Perhaps he feels that
his content has already been "stolen" (eurgh, it's intellectual
property; it cannot be stolen unless the creator no longer has access to
it) by us in some way, and is so very affronted? I cannot imagine that
anyone would fly off the handle quite so much at the simple instigation
of a request for permission...
He maintains one of the few decent websources on
what is a relatively obscure subject. Like other
people in the same position he will find himself
used extensively by Wikipedia as a source. This
is probably the cause of his fury.
Regards,
Haukur