^^ 1) I am not sure what is OP's case. Maybe he has legitimate/paid copies of the images and the photographer was stupid to make an exe instead of image files burnt to the disk.
Now coming to your point
@6pack
1)It all depends on how the contract was with the photographer. If the contract was say x hours of video + 250 printed photos for say Rs XYZ then its fine.
In many cases its pre decided whether digital copies will be provided as a part of the deal and how many. All / fixed no. like 100, 200 or only those which customer opted to print in hard copy.
One needs to understand that only because a digital camera does not need a film and images are stored in digital format does not make them free.
There are many other facets to be considered.
1)Cost of the equipment. Lenses and cameras used by these professional photographers are NOT cheap.
2)Labor cost of the staff attending the shoot/ transporting the equipment, etc.
3)Cost of the post production facilities. Right from the software license costs to the salary of the guys who do all the post processing and editing on the videos and photos.
Not every photo can be printed straight from the camera. PP is required.
So it all depends on the terms of contract between the customer and photographer. And this varies from state to state.
And if the deal was for say 250 photos then ideally customer should get 250 photos even if the studio shot 5000.
Technically its a grey area whose intellectual property it is depending on the terms of agreement between the customer and the studio. But no studio will and can use a customer's photo without their consent. Even the display images in studios are either stock images or they are put there with the permission of involved parties.
This mindset is very common in India that digital photos are kind of "FREE". Not every image is royalty free. And Photography is not a cheap hobby/profession.
P.S: For me photography is an art. You can hire a photographer from Rs1000/day to Rs 2Lakhs/day. You get what you pay for....