Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt might be running the most lucrative faux celebrity relationship in Hollywood. Not only are they said to be pocketing cash for cooperating with photo agencies like Pacific Coast News, but we're also hearing they're under the sheets with the celebrity weeklies.

A tabloid operative with direct knowledge of the situation insists Us Weekly paid the couple a "HUGE fee, around $15,000" in exchange for shooting them for the "Why I Called Off My Wedding" cover story.

It's on the books as a "location fee," we're told, which would allow Us to hold up its public persona of not paying for stories or access, while getting the shoot through accounting's spreadsheets.

An Us Weekly top editor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, flatly denies the charge: "No, we didn't" pay, says the staffer. "Make-up was taken care of by us," but there weren't even any travel incidentals to pay for, since "I think we shot at his house."

Which is true; the photos were taken at Spencer's house in the Palisades. (Wenner's money managers might be wise, then, to question any such "location fee.") And it's also a little perplexing that any magazine would have to pay to shoot Heidi and Spencer — those two will sell their first through fifth born for a cover, or even a quarter-second of footage on a VH1 countdown show. But that's the rub.

Is Pacific Coast News just the latest paparazzi agency to be fingered for colluding with celebrities? We're hearing very good information that the agency cut a deal with The Hills' Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt. PCN gets access the couple, staged shots, and thus a leg up in selling their photos to tabloids, while Heidi and Spencer get to be seen in positive light. Oh, and pad their pockets with a cut of the revenues.

A PCN exec we reached out to hasn't returned comment, but one knowledgeable source also says PCN had a similar financial arrangement with cash-starved Brandon Davis, who would ensure shots of him and Mischa Barton were captured by the agency's photogs. (So the rumor goes, Brandon began running out of photo-worthy activities with Mischa. Thus, there's a pic of them playing croquet.) Mischa, who was once thought to be just a pawn in Brandon's photo escapades, is now said to be in on the deal herself; following her DUI arrest, a tearful Mischa walking her dogs in Greystone Park appeared, credited to PCN.

PCN has also acknowledged to industry sources we spoke with that they have a "business relationship" with Spencer, but didn't elaborate. Heidi has been overheard talking about her own deal with "Matt at PCN" to shoot her exclusively.

So how much do these photos enrich this unnerving reality twosome? A two-page spread inside a celeb weekly can snag "at least" $5,000 gross, according to one paparazzi source, but the percentage Heidi and Spencer take home isn't known. But their lengthy photospread on UsMagazine.com, as exhibited here in a PCN photo, probably paid for a teeth whitening or two.

Of course, none of this is entirely "news," as most photo agencies secure exclusive or semi-exclusive relationships with any number of celebs and reality starlets. Not that standard industry practices aren't worthy of our attention, of course.