Amyl and the Sniffers‘ Amy Taylor has ended a lengthy court battle with a US photographer.
The parties have settled the matter out of court, which began last year. Photographer Jamie Nelson described herself as the creator and sole copyright holder of a photographic series of Taylor titled Champagne Problems, which was published in Vogue Portugal in July 2025. She said her work was used without permission after one of the images was shared publicly by a third party linked to Taylor, prompting her to issue cease-and-desist notices to all parties, including Taylor and Amyl and the Sniffers.
A civil lawsuit from Taylor followed, after Nelson allegedly sold a selection of them as “fine art prints” on her website. According to Taylor, no agreement existed authorising Nelson to sell copies.
“This case was never just about my photographs. 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,” Nelson said in a statement given to Rolling Stone AU/NZ. “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. 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.”
Despite claiming the verdict as a win, Amyl and the Sniffers management pushed back on ongoing media coverage from Nelson.
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“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,” a statement given to Rolling Stone AU/NZ reads.
“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.”
Representatives for Taylor also claimed that they offered to discuss a settlement with Nelson twice during the proceedings, which the photographer did not respond to.
Management’s statement continues: “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.”
From Rolling Stone AU/NZ
