Annie Leibovitz Pawns Photo Rights

American portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz, known for her iconic images of celebrities, has borrowed $15 million in exchange for the copyright, negatives, and contract rights of all her work—past and future—until the loan is repaid.

The New York Times reported today that the artist, who's been drowning in mortgage debt, borrowed more than $15 million from Art Capital Group, a company that assists art owners in creating liquidity from art assets. Sounds more like a glorified pawnshop.

Some of the images used for collateral include the infamous photo of a naked and very pregnant Demi Moore, the controversial picture of tween star Miley Cyrus for Vanity Fair , and images of first lady Michelle Obama used by the same magazine.

Leibovitz also put up for collateral several houses, including townhouses she owns in Greenwich Village and a country house.

Reader Comments Read all comments (21)

Add Your Thoughts

Comment Name State Select One AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE DC FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY International Email

Please enter the two words below into the text field underneath the image.

Incorrect please try again

Enter the words above: Enter the numbers you hear:

Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ.