Nirvana win lawsuit against Nevermind album cover

Nirvana have won in the latest ongoing lawsuit between the band and Spencer Elden, who appeared as the famous naked baby on the cover of the band’s seminal album Nevermind. This was the third lawsuit pursued by Elden, who claims the album cover was an example of child pornography. 

The lawsuit alleged that the defendants “intentionally commercially marketed the child pornography depicting Spencer and leveraged the lascivious nature of his image to promote the Nevermind album, the band, and Nirvana’s music, while earning, at a minimum, tens of millions of dollars in the aggregate.” Named defendants in this latest case include Nirvana’s remaining members Dave Grohl and Kurt Novoselic, as well as Courtney Love, the Kurt Cobain estate, photographer Kirk Weddle, and a number of record labels. All charges were dismissed by US District Judge Olguin. 

The first action pursued by Elden came last year, after he claimed to have suffered injuries including emotional distress, loss of potential income, and a loss of ‘enjoyment of life’ due the cover. This is despite Elden having done a number of interviews in the past about his experience, and a recreation of the photo with him as an adult in 2016.

According to skynews, Judge Olguin dismissed these claims in his ruling, stating, “In sum, plaintiff (Elden) fails to allege that he knew of a violation that occurred while he was a minor or an injury that forms the basis of the claim within ten years of filing this action.”