World-renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz has recently defaulted on a $AU24 million ($US24 million) loan. The loan was taken out with her creditors, the Art Capital Group to consolidate mounting debts incurred through tax avoidance and extravagant, costly shoots that required expensive, cutting-edge photographic equipment.
Luckily, the award-winning photographer also put up several million dollars worth of property she owns around New York as collateral in 2008. But it doesn't stop there, as Leibovitz also put up the rights to all her photographic works - valued at over $US50 million - which includes iconic shots of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, as well as many portrait shots of world leaders. In case that's not enough to cover things, Art Capital retain the rights to all future work produced by the photographer.
Since missing her loan repayment deadline last month, Art Capital are in talks to decide upon the fate of Leibovitz's body of work. And while she still retains some control over the administration of the copyright of her photos, we can only hope that the money comes from somewhere other than the sale of her imagery.
