Nirvana have won the dismissal of a lawsuit by a man who claimed that his depiction as a naked four-month-old baby on the cover of Nevermind, the band’s seminal 1991 album, which has sold more than 30 million copies, was child pornography.
In a decision in Los Angeles on Friday, US district judge Fernando Olguin said Spencer Elden waited too long to claim that Nirvana sexually exploited him, having sued more than 10 years after learning about the cover of the album, which feature the song Smells Like Teen Spirit.
Other defendants included the Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic; Courtney Love, the widow of the band’s late lead singer, Kurt Cobain; several record labels; and the photographer Kirk Weddle.
The lawsuit stemmed from Nirvana’s use of a photograph Weddle took in 1991 at Pasadena Aquatic Center, in California, which depicted Elden swimming naked towards a dollar bill pierced with a fish hook.
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In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 2003, when he was 12, Eldon said he was “probably gonna get some money” from the photograph; in 2016, as an adult, he re-created the image, with Nevermind tattooed on his chest.
He nevertheless claimed in his lawsuit, which began in August 2021, that he met the statute of limitations because his injuries, including emotional distress, lost earning capacity and “loss of enjoyment of life”, continued into adulthood.
The judge rejected that argument, saying it would effectively permit Elden to sue Nirvana indefinitely. ”In sum, plaintiff 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,” Olguin wrote.
Elden had filed three versions of his complaint, and Olguin’s dismissal prevents him from filing a fourth. A lawyer for Elden did not immediately respond on Saturday to requests for comment. Lawyers for the defendants did not immediately respond to similar requests. — Reuters
