Generally speaking copyrights exist mainly to protect the interests of the creators of work, they aren't the only form of right that exists concerning photographs, the holder of the copyright doesn't have ultimate power to do as they please with the images, and their purpose has never been to protect the interests of those who paid for or wish to use the images. Yet increasingly photography customers are requesting that copyright be transferred to them, something which, to the photographer, means handing over an asset of considerable value, a value which must be reflected in the price. The value of some things can vary between people and in this case the copyright, being designed to protect the creator, is very valuable to the photographer, but mostly irrelevant to the customer, resulting in customers being asked to pay large sums of money for what are, to them, valueless assets.