Leibovitz uses copyright as collateral

Nick | 25 Feb 2009, 11:01

The Guardian reports that photographer Annie Leibovitz has borrowed money from specilist lender Art Capital, using the probable future income streams from the copyright on her work photography as collateral:

“Records show she secured the loan partly against property, but also by putting up as collateral the copyright, negatives and contract rights to every photograph she has ever taken or will take in future until the loans are paid off.“

Joint-owner of Art Capital, Ian Peck says:

“We are one of the few – if not the only – lender who could have valued her body of work; that’s a fairly esoteric thing to value.“

The loan was based not only on an appraisal of both the value of her work but also a set of assumptions about the future of the copyright system and shows that copyright protection and enforcement are not concerns only for major corporations, but also for the individual artist.