When Billy Name passed away in July 2016, he left behind a will, in the drawer of his bedside table, naming me, Dagon James, as his executor and heir. At the time, I was living in California, but immediately flew to New York to oversee his final arrangements, as he had instructed me to do. Despite my efforts to reach out, not one member of his family expressed an interest in participating in his burial. Billy also left me extensive instructions regarding how his work should be protected, and preserved for the future.

Two years later, in January 2018, Billy’s estranged niece filed a lawsuit seeking control of his estate. In 2020, following an arduous process of depositions and discovery, the court dismissed her lawsuit. She appealed, and the litigation continued. Throughout the nearly nine years since this began, I have made countless efforts to find a reasonable resolution.

During this time, I have been the subject of repeated public attacks, both online and in the press, some of them deeply personal. Through it all, I have continued to work tirelessly to protect, preserve, and elevate Billy’s legacy, just as I promised him I would. This has always been about honoring his wishes and ensuring that his life’s work receives the care, respect, and protection it deserves.

I first met Billy in 1996, began publishing his work in 2004, and later became his agent and archivist at his invitation. Over the course of my career, I have had the privilege of working with many noteworthy photographers, but Billy was different. Beyond his extraordinary talent, he was a dear friend, one of the best I ever had. Through Billy, I met my wife, and when our son was born in January 2017, we gave him the middle name William in Billy’s honor. His place in our lives extends far beyond his work.

I have spent nearly a decade defending what Billy entrusted to me, and I intend to see that commitment through. God willing, I will continue to do everything in my power to ensure that Billy’s work is nurtured, preserved, and ultimately protected by the institutions capable of safeguarding it for generations to come, exactly as he wished and instructed.

In November, this matter will go before a jury. Billy’s oldest living friends, Gerard Malanga and Bibbe Hansen, both of whom knew him since the early 1960s, have independently offered public statements in support of my efforts to honor his wishes. I am deeply grateful for their support.

Dagon James

“I am a practicing photographer and was a very close friend of the late William Linich, aka Billy Name.  We worked for 53 years collaborating on a number of professional projects throughout our friendship together.  Billy's passing concluded some of the great work in post-modern photography, but not without some of the lies that have sadly followed him. His legacy is presently being challenged in a court of law in a most despicable and deceitful way.  

I have known Dagon James for nearly 25 years and can attest to his impeccable management in caring for Billy's work when he was alive and posthumously as well.  The claimant's charge is a mockery to the court and I defend Dagon's flawless record against the deceit and lies in an attempt to darken Billy's name and deceive the court. In 53 years of friendship I never heard Billy mention the name of the woman suing Dagon, or anyone else in his family for that matter.

In Billy's last years I had spent considerable time visiting with him and I can attest to his health as being of sound mind and body and he was very clear how his work would be handled after his passing.”

Gerard Malanga

“Dagon James is an honest, competent, and deeply respected professional in the art world whose relationship with the late Billy Name was rooted in mutual trust, respect, and a shared commitment to preserving photographic history. As someone who knew Billy since the early 1960s and collaborated alongside him in Andy Warhol’s Silver Factory, I have first-hand knowledge of the truth. The claims being leveled against Dagon by Billy’s estranged family are completely false and stand in direct opposition to Billy’s actual final wishes.

Billy was entirely competent, lucid, and deliberate when making his final arrangements. In reality, it was I who urged Billy to secure his legacy with someone capable of administering it. Billy felt a profound estrangement from his surviving family, who had devastated him, mishandling his things, and selling his personal possessions against his wishes. It was Billy’s explicit desire to remove his relative as executor and name Dagon as his sole administrator and heir.

Billy chose Dagon because Dagon treated him with unparalleled care, dignity, and professional respect. Dagon accepted a massive responsibility out of genuine devotion to Billy’s legacy. Watching greed and spite trample on the good names of both Billy and Dagon is deeply disturbing. Dagon James acted with the utmost integrity, and he remains the rightful, trusted guardian of Billy Name’s historic archive.”

Bibbe Hansen