‘Nevermind’ baby loses another lawsuit against Nirvana
Spencer Elden, who featured on the cover art of Nirvana’s 1991 album Nevermind as a child, has lost yet another lawsuit against the band. The suit was recently dismissed by a federal judge on the basis that it took the 31-year-old too long to claim that he had been the victim of child sexual exploitation.
Elden filed his original lawsuit against former Nirvana members Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and the estate of Kurt Cobain in August 2021. It claimed that Elden’s guardians didn’t sign a release authorising the commercial use of the image while also maintaining that the defendant had violated child pornography statutes.
Elden also claimed that he sustained injuries and “lifelong damages” due to his association with the photograph. In the lawsuit, Elden claimed that he was the victim of “child sexual exploitation” and that the album art had been “knowingly produced, possessed and advertised” by the bad.
At the start of January 2022, the judge dismissed the case with “leave to amend”. The ruling came after Elden’s legal team failed to submit an opposition to the Nirvana estate’s request to dismiss the suit before the deadline. However, the judge granted Elden “one last opportunity to amend his complaint.”
After going over the refiled lawsuit, the judge dismissed the case yet again. The eight-page ruling – obtained by Buzzfeed News – prohibits Elden from filing another suit against Nirvana and co-defendants such as Courtney Love, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, art director Robert Fisher and photographer Kirk Weddle.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Elden’s lawyer said he intends to “appeal this ruling.” Attorney Margaret Mabie said: “This ruling’s interpretation of the statute of limitations on Masha’s Law contravenes over fifteen years of well-settled precedent and the legislature’s intended purpose of the law.”
She continued: “Under this reading of the law, child pornography remedies vaporize once the victim in the contraband image turns 28 years old. Under this logic, any child pornography producer – such as Masha Allen’s original abuser – could simply wait out the clock and then re-distribute abusive material with impunity. The Nevermind cover was created at a time when Spencer was a baby and it is impossible for him to age out of this victimisation while his image remains in distribution.”
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