A US-based photographer, Jamie Nelson, who is locked in a legal battle with Amyl and the Sniffers’ Amy Taylor, has escalated the dispute by filing an anti-SLAPP motion to “defend copyright protections” over her Champagne Problems photo series.
As reported by Rolling Stone Australia, Nelson, who says she is the sole copyright holder of the images published in Vogue Portugal in July 2025, alleges the conflict began after a third party linked to Taylor publicly shared one of the photos without permission, prompting cease-and-desist notices to Taylor and the band.
A civil action lawsuit from Taylor over the photographs 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.
Nelson fires back
Now, Nelson has filed an anti-SLAPP motion which aims “to prevent people from using courts, and potential threats of a lawsuit, to intimidate people who are exercising their First Amendment rights.”
“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,” Nelson said in a statement to Rolling Stone AU/NZ.
“My actions seek to defend both copyright protections and the First Amendment, which are essential to artists everywhere.”
Origin of the issue
The issue between Nelson and Taylor began in July 2024, when Amyl and the Sniffers’ manager, Simone Ubaldi, reached out to Nelson to photograph them for their album Cartoon Darkness.
The shoot later fell through after they “expressly communicated” to Nelson that they didn’t want her to use the band’s name, image, and likeness to promote her own business.
“As explained to Ms. Nelson, the band was zealously protective of their image and did not want these used for non-band-sanctioned, private commercial purposes such as Ms. Nelson had proposed. As a result, the photo shoot was never conducted,” the complaint read.
Nelson allegedly contacted Taylor months later, requesting to photograph her “with the express intention that the resulting images … would be published exclusively in the July 2025 issue of Vogue Portugal,” filed documents claimed.
Taylor agreed, but allegedly “at no point” authorised or licensed Nelson the right to make any other commercial use beyond the magazine issue.
After receiving Nelson’s proposal to sell the “fine art prints”, Ubaldi claimed to have told Nelson that Taylor objected to such use of her image and that “the only permitted use of the same had been for inclusion in Vogue Portugal.”
Heading to court
A hearing on the matter is currently scheduled for March 6th, 2026.
Top Image: Amy Taylor