The current legal saga relating to Amyl And The Sniffers frontwoman Amy Taylor continues, with photographer Jamie Nelson accusing the vocalist of copyright infringement in newly-filed counterclaims.
In a statement provided to The Music, Nelson noted that this week also saw her file an anti-SLAPP motion in an effort to seek protection of her First Amendment rights, following on from her filing of counterclaims on February 16th.
A SLAPP suit (an initialism for ‘strategic lawsuits against public participation’) is described as a legal method aimed at effectively burdening the defendant with litigation, and is usually done so as a strategic practice to hopefully get them to abandon any initial criticism.
The Music does not suggest that this was the intent of Taylor or her legal team.
Nelson’s anti-SLAPP motion relates to a lawsuit filed by Taylor in a Californian court in December in which she alleged Nelson sold images of the singer from a prior photoshoot as “fine art prints” despite explicit instruction not to do so.
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According to the lawsuit, Amyl And The Sniffers’ manager had made contact with Nelson in 2024 with the intent of securing her services for a shoot regarding the band's then-upcoming Cartoon Darkness album.
Though this photoshoot reportedly fell through due to an alleged disagreement of terms, it’s claimed that Nelson made contact with Taylor to organise another photoshoot, with the images to exclusively appear in the July 2025 edition of Vogue Portugal as part of a series titled Champagne Problems.
It’s also alleged that Nelson made further contact with Taylor to seek permission to sell the images as art prints, only to receive word from the band’s manager that Nelson did not have license or permission to do so.
The lawsuit claims 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.
Taylor’s lawsuit was itself filed almost two weeks after Nelson had filed a Civil Harassment Restraining Order in Los Angeles Superior Court against Taylor, on December 9th. A hearing for this matter was scheduled for February 13th, with a new hearing scheduled for March 6th.
In her new statement, Nelson explains that her newly-filed counterclaims not only now include Taylor, but “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.”
“At issue are photographs I created as part of an artistic series that were published by an international edition of Vogue and later offered as fine-art prints,” explained. “This practice is longstanding and widely accepted in the photography and fine-art industries.
“My legal actions today seek recognition of both my copyright ownership and my right as an artist to create, display, and sell my fine-art prints.”
Nelson continued:
As a working photographer, I believe artists should be able to publish, display, and sell their work without feeling pressure to give up their rights. My actions seek to defend both copyright protections and the First Amendment, which are essential to artists everywhere.
This case also highlights a broader and increasingly common dynamic in which independent artists often find themselves defending their rights against well-funded opponents supported by national law firms, management teams, and media resources. In many instances, photographers and artists may face pressure to abandon their rights simply because of disparities in resources and influence.
The Music have reached out to Amyl And The Sniffers’ management team, who have not responded to request for comment at the time of publication.
