Nirvana win lawsuit in ‘Nevermind’ baby case
A court has today dismissed a lawsuit brought by Spencer Elden, claiming that the cover of Nirvana’s landmark album Nevermind was guilty of child pornography.
Elden was the baby who appeared on the cover of the classic album back in the 1990s, naked in a swimming pool reaching for a dollar bill on a fishing line. Although Elden, now in his 30s, initially embraced being the ‘Nirvana baby’, he has since argued that the image is akin to child pornography and exploitation.
Originally, Elden filed a civil suit against the legendary grunge band in 2021, claiming that the album cover image constituted child pornography. At the time, the plaintiff’s lawyers claimed, “Spencer’s true identity and legal name are forever tied to the commercial sexual exploitation he experienced as a minor.”
That initial suit was dismissed, with a judge ruling that Elden had waited too long to pursue legal action against the band.
Now, after that dismissal was overruled by an appeals court, Judge Fernando M Olguin has once again dismissed Elden’s case. In the ruling, first reported on by Billboard, the Judge states, “Neither the pose, focal point, setting, nor overall context suggest the album cover features sexually explicit conduct.”
“This image — an image that is most analogous to a family photo of a nude child bathing — is plainly insufficient to support a finding of [child pornography],” he added. Ultimately, the Judge ruled that the image in question was not “lascivious” in nature, and therefore cannot be qualified as child pornography.
Within the ruling, Judge Olguin also highlighted Elden’s repeated attempts to profit from his role in the creation of that 1991 album. “Plaintiff’s actions relating to the album over time are difficult to square with his contentions that the album cover constitutes child pornography and that he sustained serious damages as a result,” he wrote.
Following the dismissal of the case, Elden’s lawyers have the choice to appeal the decision once again.
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