09/08/2021
I'm seeing a massive problem in the wedding industry lately and wanted to be one of the people to address it online and help educate. Couples, if your wedding vendors are asking you to sign away the rights to your wedding photos to them, this is a massive red flag. It is ILLEGAL and they cannot ask you for that. Copyright stays with the photographer ALWAYS unless otherwise stated (and this is very rare and VERY expensive). If you do not own the copyright, you cannot give photos to other businesses to use for commercial purposes. Period. Your wedding gallery almost always only comes with permission for you to use the photos for your personal use which is an entirely different situation than businesses using them to make money.
Other vendors need a photographer's WRITTEN PERMISSION to use photos for their businesses. Some charge for a commercial license, some allow social media use with no fees but no printing without purchasing a license, some don't charge at all. Everyone's business practice is different and it is up to the photographer how they run things.
Wedding vendors, wedding photographers love to work with you in a way that is beneficial to all. But please stop freaking stealing from us. Thanks ❤
