Photographer Annie Leibovitz, who won a respite last week in the repayment of her $24m loan with Art Capital Group, is far from being out of trouble, according to Steve Kuncewicz, intellectual property and media lawyer at law firm Ralli.

He says that Leibovitz, who as part of her new deal is rebuying her copyright, could be have to pay a higher premium to do so: 'The loan Leibovitz entered was on the basis she also put up all of the photographs she would take in the future. This was an extremely good deal for Art Capital and would see her giving up her only source of continuing revenue. She is now buying back her copyright, but at what cost? Art Capital could conceivably charge her a premium in exchange for altering the terms of her loan.'

Kuncewicz adds: 'If Annie Leibovitz had been unable to get an extension on the deadline to repay her loan, she would have lost everything. Losing her properties would be bad enough, but if she lost her portfolio copyright, she’d lose the right to make any income from the huge amount of images she’s taken over the years. Copyright in most photographs, under US and UK law, is owned by the photographer and usually lasts for the life of the photographer plus 70 years. Few photographers have had images become as iconic as Leibovitz and very few will be able to make as much from licensing them out to third parties.

'The credit crunch has led many artists to use their work as collateral to raise funds as they become aware of how valuable copyright can be. It allows the creator of a photograph to control how the image is used, reproduced and sold. Art Capital obviously sees the value in this and has built its business from making money for its clients and itself by taking copyright as a form of security.

'If you are going to use your intellectual property as security for a loan, think about the terms very carefully. If you default, a lender could end up literally owning your creativity, as Annie Leibovitz so nearly found out. Seeing her iconic images licensed out for use on tee-shirts or on other merchandise would not have been a pretty picture.'