elvis presley

just was thinking who would hold the right to elvis presley wedding photos the photographer or them ??

That would depend on the contract they signed I imagine.

Usually the photographer retains the rights to (wedding) photos.

yes u colud be right

I used to do a lot fo work for Paul McCartney in the 'Wings' days and signed a contract agreeing that copyright belonged to MPL (His business holdings company). It also stated that any unauthorised use of he images would be the responsibility of the photographer.

This is a pretty standard contract for high level entertainment people.

The work flow was that after shooting the pix, I would messenger the film to a trusted lab and when ready have them messengered to wherever Paul and Linda were. We would then arrange a time and place and go through the stuff together.

After selection, the material would go to Gene Nocon's place in Coventry Garden for printing, duping etc before being shipped over to Tony Brainsby's office in Chelsea for Tony to distribute as necessary. Thus, there was not much scope for misuse on my part. In practise, the deal I had with the McCartneys over payment would make you a fool to abuse it, even apart from moral considerations.

It is most unlikely that any photographer would be allowed copyright over something like the Presley wedding. The value is not in the pictures but the image of the artist. Presley's management would have been idiots not to have capitalised on the commercial value of these pictures and whatever you might think of Col Tom Parker, an idiot he was not.

With wedding photography the photographer gets hired, doesn't that almost automatically mean that the photos belong to the one hiring the photographer?

No. The wedding photographer often makes his (or her) money from the prints/albums they sell. If the person hiring them owned the copyright then they would have to hand over all the photos taken that day, including all the duff ones, and would be paid purely for the day. They would also not be able to have samples to show other potential clients.
Some contracts do hand over copyright, but then you pay a lot more for the photographer.

Lemmy - that is why I said it depends on the contract that was signed. I can't imagine any star not having copyright of their wedding photos, or any other photos they commission.

Haven't thought about it in such way Gwyn, thanks.

Yes, I knew that was what you meant and was backing up your comment with personal experience.

***Goes digs out snaps of Elvis seen queuing up in our local chip shop***

I thought he worked there???

Wedding shots of Pelvis Greasley?!?!?
Oh, hold me back...

Perhaps he was talking about welding shots of Elvis. As he ordered his Battered sausage and curry sauce he did mention he now worked in the local Autobody shop.

So the guy who works down the chip shop who swears he's Elvis is a liar?

Looking back at the names of couples at old weddings I've done
I notice one groom was called Albert Priestly......???? must
dig out the negs :

I have to admit when I read the OP I was picturing one of these Nevada weddings with Elvis lookalikes. The question might have been if we get married in such a chapel who owns the rights to the photos taken.

As for Elvis, I saw him a couple of years ago in the town square in Ormskirk, judging some sort of competition of Elvis lookalikes. Bizarre.