An ongoing legal dispute between Amyl And The Sniffers vocalist Amy Taylor and US photographer Jamie Nelson has officially come to an end, with a federal lawsuit brought by the former against the latter officially being dismissed with prejudice.
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."
Though Nelson's appeal for a restraining order was declined by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, in September, Judge Wu dismissed Taylor's federal claim with prejudice (meaning the suit cannot be re-filed) after recognising "Nelson’s photographs as expressive artistic works".
Weeks later, on Thursday, October 29th, the remainder of the lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice, following a third court-ordered conference in which Taylor and the band "entered into an irrevocable and permanent 'Covenant Not to Sue,' agreeing not to pursue future legal action against Nelson over the covered reproduction, distribution, public display, and sale of her fine-art photographs."
"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.”
The Music have reached out to Amyl And The Sniffers’ management team for comment.
This piece of content has been assisted by the Australian Government through Music Australia and Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body
