Assuming the circumstances and sequence of events are as described (and I've no reason to doubt they are) it would be wonderful if such a cyber-bully could be dealt with severely as a result of trying to trash an eminent photographer's body of work and reputation - and then send thugs to his house to intimidate him into the bargain.
All of that said, no-one should be allowed to get away with copying and re-using anyone else's work (of any description) whether the creator is amateur or professional, rich or poor, famous or unheard of.
For some reason, the fact that technology allows (maybe even encourages) people to misappropriate images or passages of text seems to be sufficient rationale for doing so. My suspicion is that the crime is relatively anonymous in most cases. Whe found out, however, the thief starts to cry "oppression" from the original artist and there's always someone, maybe many hundreds or thousands, who'll side with the thief as if he/she's some latter-day Robin Hood who's "freed" the work from the grips of the tyrranical owner / originator.
I'd actually pay money to see "Hawk" chastised in person, in public. Mind you, I just have "thing" about cheats and thieves.
