Topics: Entertainment, US News, Dave Grohl
It was announced this weekend that the lad who appeared on Nirvana's Nevermind album cover had lost his child pornography lawsuit against the band.
The long-running battle began last year when Spencer Elden filed a lawsuit against the surviving band members and Kurt Cobain's estate.
The 31-year-old also attempted to sue a number of record labels and photographer Kirk Weddle.
He claimed that neither he nor his family had consented to the photo being used on the album cover and that it violated federal child pornography laws.
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At the time the lawsuit was filed, the band's former drummer Dave Grohl took aim at Elden, and it was as cutting as you'd imagine.
Speaking to Vulture, the 53-year-old said: "I don’t know that I can speak on it because I haven’t spent too much time thinking about it. I feel the same way most people do in that I have to disagree. That’s all I’ll say."
And referencing the fact Elden had since recreated the front cover a number of times over the years, the rock legend added: "Listen, he’s got a Nevermind tattoo. I don’t."
Despite the allegations, however, the case has now been thrown out of court after a judge in the US ruled that Elden had opted to take legal action after the statute of limitations had expired.
District Judge Fernando Olguin of Los Angeles said that he had missed the 10-year cut off to file a case on the matter.
In court documents obtained by Billboard, the judge wrote: “Because it is undisputed that plaintiff did not file his complaint within ten years after he discovered a violation that could form the basis for his [child pornography] claim, the court concludes that his claim is untimely.”
The decision reflects statements made by lawyers representing Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, Weddle, UMG Recordings and Courtney Love, as executor of Cobain’s estate, after they filed a motion to dismiss the case in December 2021.
The legal team similarly questioned why Elden waited until now to raise objections about the image, adding that he 'spent three decades profiting from his celebrity as the self-anointed "Nirvana Baby"'.
The dismissal of Elden’s third complaint means he’s unable to file a fourth, though he is entitled to appeal the decision.
Elden was four months old when the photo was taken, as his dad was friends with Weddle, who paid the family $200 to dunk the baby in a pool at the Pasadena Aquatic Center in California.
He has previously claimed the 1991 artwork led him to experience 'extreme and permanent emotional distress' and had 'interfered with his normal development and educational progress'.
Speaking to The Guardian back in 2015, Elden said: "It’s always been a positive thing and opened doors for me."
But a year later, speaking GQ Australia, he revealed that he’d grown to become 'p***ed off' with the cover, describing the use of his image as 'f***ed up'.
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