Amy Taylor of Amyl and the Sniffers ends bid to block sale of photos

A bitter copyright dispute between Amy Taylor, lead singer of Australian rock band Amyl and the Sniffers, and American photographer Jamie Nelson has been settled out of court, with both sides attempting to spin it as a win, though it’s Nelson who will claim the spoils if not the honours.

Nelson, who has taken a decidedly proactive approach to media coverage throughout the year-long legal battle, issued a lengthy statement on Friday in which she announced the “entire lawsuit” between the two women “has been dismissed with prejudice”, framing it as a “significant First Amendment [freedom of speech] victory”.

However, the band’s manager, Simone Ubaldi, insists “the judge didn’t dismiss Amy Taylor’s lawsuit; we came to a settlement and both Jamie’s case and our case were dismissed by mutual agreement as part of that settlement”.

A case being dismissed with prejudice simply means it cannot be brought before the court again.

There were in fact multiple cases in play between the singer and the photographer, who undertook the portrait session at Nelson’s Los Angeles home for an editorial spread in Vogue Portugal in May, 2025.

The dispute began last September when Nelson indicated she wanted to sell limited-edition fine-art prints of that shoot on her website, offering Taylor a 15 per cent cut, which she estimated would be worth $US70,000. Ubaldi, on Taylor’s behalf, declined to grant permission.

Nonetheless, Nelson advertised the images for sale, and in November lawyers for Taylor sent a cease-and-desist letter. Nelson initially agreed to remove the images, but the next day changed her mind and instead invoked her “moral rights as the creator of the works in question”.

There are 38 different images in the series, each available in a range of limited-edition different print sizes, priced from $US1500 to $US18,000. The total value of all images, if sold at full price, is in excess of $US10.5 million ($15 million).

Taylor’s argument has from the beginning been that she consented only to an editorial shoot, not to the exploitation of her likeness for Nelson’s commercial gain in other spheres. Nelson’s position has been that as creator of the images, she has the right to exploit them, and any attempt to prevent that is an infringement of her freedom of speech.

Along the way, Nelson accused Taylor and her filmmaker partner John Angus Stewart of copyright theft for sharing on Instagram one of the images she had supplied them with, lodging a claim for $US750,000 in damages.

She also accused Taylor of harassment (for saying that the image was not associated with or approved by the band), and sought a restraining order against her that even extended to the publication of emojis.

None of those allegations made it to trial.

According to Ubaldi: “Taylor 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.”

All they were ever fighting for, she added, “was Amy’s right to say no”.

That fight has now been lost.

“On 28 October, we reached a mutual settlement with Jamie Nelson where both cases were dismissed and no money changed hands,” Ubaldi says. To go to trial would have cost the band up to $US1 million in legal fees, “and another year of our lives”, says Ubaldi. “Frustrating doesn’t begin to describe it.”

Nelson, meanwhile, continues to frame the outcome as a victory for the little person and artistic integrity – and one that she argues highlights an “ironic” disconnect between Taylor and the values she purports to represent.

“As the frontwoman of Australian punk band Amyl and the Sniffers, Taylor represents a musical tradition that has long celebrated creative independence and challenged conventional boundaries,” Nelson said in her 2000-word release. “The lawsuit against Nelson, an independent female photographer known for her provocative, unapologetic imagery, brought those ideals into sharp focus.”

The settlement affirms, she insisted, that “the photographer, not the subject, owns the copyright to the photographs they create”.

On that point at least Ubaldi is in reluctant agreement.

“Jamie can continue selling the Vogue Portugal photos of Amy for millions of dollars, the copyright is hers,” she says. “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.”