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Oh snap! Photographer Annie Leibovitz sued by Paolo Pizzetti, must repay Art Capital Group loan

BY Catey Hill

September 8th 2009

She's one of the most renowned photographers in the world, having snapped pictures of many of the most famous celebrities of our time from John Lennon to Demi Moore to Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise. She's published several popular books of her work. She's got a lucrative contract with Vanity Fair. And she's made millions upon millions of dollars during her career.

But now? Annie Leibovitz is in serious money trouble and facing a copyright lawsuit.

Leibovitz could lose the rights to all of her photographs - as well as her four homes - if she does not pay back a $24 million loan by Tuesday.

In 2008, Leibovitz took out the $24M loan with Art Capital Group, and used her homes - three townhouses in New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood and one in Rheinbeck, New York - and the rights to her current and future work as collateral. Art Capital Group sued Leibovitz in July for breach of contract, claiming that she blocked the company from selling her photographs, BBC News reported.

"We have clear contractual rights and will protect them in any scenario," ACG spokesman Montieth Illingworth told the Associated Press.

Leibovitz 's spokesman, Matthew Hiltzik, told BBC News that Leibovitz 's "attention remains on her photography and on continuing to organize her finances".

Well, now she's got something else to pay attention to: a lawsuit.

Italian photographer Paolo Pizzetti sued Leibovitz for roughly $300K for copyright infringement, claiming that she tried to pass of his photos for her own.

The photos were of Venice and Rome and were used in a 2009 calendar for a coffee company, the Daily Mail reported.

http://www.nydailynews.com/real_esta...z_sued_by.html