Will Annie Leibovitz Lose the Rights to Her Photos?
As it turns out, Annie Leibovitz, the photographer for Vanity Fair who provided such memorable pictures as a fat, pregnant Demi Moore and the first photo of Suri Cruise, is a deadbeat. She is up to her eyeballs in debt and she has until about 5 minutes ago to pay up or she could lose all of her real estate property and all of her photographic artwork. That means no more pictures of Scarlett Johansson running down the steps as Cinderella.
From the AP here:
Celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz risks losing the copyright to her images — and her entire life’s work — if she doesn’t pay back a $24 million loan due Tuesday.
The lender, Art Capital Group, sued Leibovitz in July claiming she breached an agreement that authorized it to act as the agent in the sale of her photography and real estate.
“Our preference is for this to be resolved,” he added. The deadline to pay back the loan is 11:59 p.m. Tuesday.
Over the years, her lens has captured such famous faces as John Lennon, Queen Elizabeth II and Bruce Springsteen. She gave the world its first glimpse of baby Suri, newborn daughter of Hollywood’s superstar couple Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, on the cover of Vanity Fair, which she joined in 1983.
I have enjoyed many of Annie’s photos over the years and its a shame she has mismanaged her affairs so badly.
I saw this story all day yesterday, but then no follow-up. Did she???
Not yet. This was just the deadline, but she is indeed now in default legally. There will be lots of negotiations and in the end I don’t know how she can come up with all of the money.