The Artful Jurist

What do you do if you’re one of the world’s most renowned photographers and you need a lot of cash fast? Well, you could try taking a new, breathtaking photo that all the world will clamor to see and bid the selling price through the roof. But, of course, that’s not nearly as easy as it sounds…even for famed photog Annie Leibovitz.

So what did Ms. Leibovitz do? She borrowed millions from a company called Art Capital Group and put up for the collateral, among other things, the rights to all of her photos. As the New York Times put it, she “essentially pawned every snap of the shutter she made or will make until the loans are paid off.” According to reports, she needed the money for such things as mortgage payments (and who hasn’t heard stories like that these days?) and legal fees.

It should serve as an example to others that creative people have more than just whole works of art to sell. There are also rights—such as copyrights and contracted rights—that are attached to those works and that are individually marketable. In this case, Ms. Leibovitz didn’t offer the final products of her art. She offered the rights that can be used to make money off them. Assuming she pays off the loans, she’ll get all the rights back.