An ongoing legal dispute between Amyl And The Sniffers vocalist Amy Taylor and US photographer Jamie Nelson has officially come to an end, with both parties choosing to settle, walking away without any money changing hands, other than to the lawyers.
The legal dispute stretches back over a year, with Nelson having sold fine art prints of photographs taken of Taylor for a July 2025 issue of Vogue Portugal.
It was alleged that Nelson made contact with Taylor in the hopes of obtaining permission to sell the images as art prints, but was told by the band’s manager that she did not have license or permission to do so.
Despite this, a lawsuit filed by Taylor in December claimed that the images were offered and promoted on Nelson’s website and social platforms regardless, with the photographer allegedly refusing to comply with requests to remove all images from her website and social media accounts.
Nelson denied this, instead having claimed that she had received “responses [that] escalated in a way that [she] experienced as harassment," and having filed a restraining order prior to Taylor's lawsuit.
In February, Nelson filed a counterclaim against Taylor for copyright infringement, and expanded her lawsuit to include "the band entity, Amyl and the Sniffers, and John Angus Stewart of PHC Films—Amy Taylor’s husband—who I contend published defamatory and untrue statements alongside one of my copyrighted images."
In March, Nelson's appeal for a restraining order was declined by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge. In September, the federal claims were heard, with the judge throwing out the Amyl and the Sniffers singer’s claim that Jamie Nelson was confusing the public into believing Taylor had officially endorsed, partnered with, or sponsored the commercial merchandise, recognising the photographs as “expressive artistic works".
Three other points of law remained, including Taylor’s claim that Nelson illegally used her face, name and celebrity status to drive traffic and commercial sales without a valid commercial model release, that both sides had an unwritten understanding (or implied licence) that the photoshoot was strictly for an editorial feature in Vogue Portugal and that Nelson misappropriated Taylor’s name and likeness.
With legal bills mounting, on October 28 the two parties reached an agreement, filing a Joint Stipulation of Dismissal in federal court the following day. The agreement grants Nelson an irrevocable covenant not to sue for print sales on standard mediums, provided Nelson does not use Taylor's name or likeness to advertise other products or services, and does not state or imply that Taylor endorsed the prints or approved the sales.
Both parties also agreed to cover their own legal expenses for actions to date, with no money changing hands as a result of the settlement. Had the case proceeded to trial, it would have created an interesting legal precedent regarding the extent of rights a photographer holds over the images they take, regardless of the subject.
"This case was never just about my photographs," Nelson said in a statement offered to the media. "It was about First Amendment rights, freedom of artistic expression, and the fundamental right of an artist to create, exhibit, and sell their original work without intimidation.
"I fought to defend those principles, not just for myself, but for every independent artist who has ever been pressured into silence."
"I am proud that I stood up for myself, proud of the work I made, and grateful to everyone who supported me through this process," she added. "I hope the next photographer who finds themselves in a similar position knows that their work is worth defending.
“Art is worth defending. And artistic freedom is worth fighting for. For me, that is the victory.”
Amyl and the Sniffers’ manager Simone Ubaldi said in an extensive statement to The Music:
“Jamie had demanded USD$750,000 in damages for her copyright violation claims - Amy/Amyl posting the Vogue pictures on Instagram after the magazine came out. She got $0. Her restraining order application against Amy was thrown out of court, her ANTI-Slapp motion failed, her motion to dismiss failed, and she had no meaningful copyright violation claims against Amy or the band because she gave us those photos to post on social media when the magazine came out and when she “revoked” that permission, we took them down.”
“Jamie Nelson asked Amy Taylor to do a shoot for Vogue Portugal and after the magazine was published began selling hundreds of those images for a combined value of $10.5 million, as calculated by The Age in February 2026. Amy was not paid for the shoot. She did not sign a model release, and she never asked for a penny in relation to the ongoing sale of the pictures.”
“Amy made exactly one public comment about this, when Jamie started selling the photos on Instagram. Amy commented “not authorised by us btw”. Amy’s husband, John Angus Stewart of PHC Films, shared Jamie’s post on Instagram and said the same thing. Jamie responded by sending a cease and desist letter and filing for a restraining order against Amy in the Californian Superior Court. That is how this legal battle started.”
“Over the last 10 months Jamie has filed various legal actions against the band, she has repeatedly posted toxic, misleading information about Amy, the band and her management on her social media accounts, she has made merch promoting the dispute, and she has hired a publicist and issued multiple press statements and releases misrepresenting what is going on.”
“She also filed a copyright violation lawsuit against John, an independent photographer, for sharing her Instagram post to his Instagram story. Despite Jamie’s claims of being persecuted by a corporate band and their PR machine, we have never made a statement, never hired a publicist, never issued a press release. Amy and the band have said nothing on social media about this except “not authorised by us”. We have kept our mouths shut, in part to avoid further lawfare from Jamie, but largely because we believe that more than anything else what Jamie Nelson desperately wants is attention.”
“What Jamie Nelson was fighting for, in our view, was the right to exploit Amy Taylor’s name, face and fame for staggering profit. All we were fighting for was Amy’s right to say no. But frankly, this is not worth our time, our money or our attention anymore.”
“On 28 October, we reached a mutual settlement with Jamie Nelson where both cases were dismissed and no money changed hands. Jamie can continue selling the Vogue Portugal photos of Amy for millions of dollars, the copyright is hers. We wish her the absolute best with that, and we hope other people learn from our mistakes. Lie down with dogs and you’ll get up with fleas. Be careful who you let into your world.”
This piece of content has been assisted by the Australian Government through Music Australia and Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body
