Court Splits Key Rulings In Amyl And The Sniffers Photo Dispute Despite ‘Victory’ Claim

Despite claims of a “near-complete victory,” court documents show a split outcome, with Amy Taylor losing a key federal claim while the photographer’s motion was denied.

A US court has issued a mixed set of rulings in the ongoing legal dispute between Amyl and the Sniffers singer Amy Taylor and photographer Jamie Nelson, despite Taylor’s legal team describing the outcome as a “near-complete victory.”

Blunt previously reported that the court had urged both parties to explore a settlement following the hearing. Court documents now provide further detail on what was actually decided.

Following the hearing, Taylor’s lawyer told Rolling Stone AU/NZ the result was a major win for the singer. However, the court’s tentative ruling, reviewed by Blunt, shows a more complicated outcome.

The court denied Nelson’s anti-SLAPP motion, meaning her attempt to shut the case down early was rejected. However, it also threw out Taylor’s main federal claim, which alleged the photos wrongly suggested her endorsement or commercial involvement.

That removes a key part of Taylor’s case, leaving both sides with parts of their claims still in play.

In its reasoning, the court found that Nelson’s photographic work was “unquestionably artistically relevant” and did not meet the threshold for misleading consumers under trademark law.

At the same time, the court declined to continue hearing Taylor’s remaining state law claims in federal court, dismissing them without prejudice, meaning those claims could still be pursued elsewhere.

The case is still ongoing.

At a separate status conference on March 30, the court directed both parties to proceed to mediation, setting a deadline of April 23 and scheduling the next hearing for April 27.

While the court had already encouraged settlement following the March 18 hearing, it formally directed both parties to proceed to mediation at this conference.

The case centres on Nelson’s photographic series Champagne Problems, which was published in Vogue Portugal in July 2025 and later sold as fine art prints on her website.

Taylor’s lawsuit alleges the images were only authorised for editorial use and not for commercial sale. Nelson maintains she is the copyright holder and has the right to sell the work.

Both sides are now being pushed toward a potential settlement, with key parts of the case still unresolved.

Images From The ‘Champagne Problems’ Series (c) Jamie Nelson