La complaint for child pornography filed at the end of August by the man who appears baby and naked in a swimming pool on the cover of the legendary album Nerve memory de Nirvana was closed by a California judge on Monday, Jan.3, according to a court document. The judge closed the case because the plaintiff, Spencer Elden, did not respond to arguments put forward by Nirvana’s lawyers in particular to argue that his action was unfounded, according to the decision. The judge gave a final deadline, January 13, 2022, for Spencer Elden to register a new complaint.
“We will file a second complaint very quickly. We are confident that Spencer will be able to move this file forward, ”responded the plaintiff’s lawyer, Robert Lewis, contacted by Agence France-Presse. Photographed in 1991 at the age of four months, Spencer Elden is shown nude in a swimming pool on the cover of Nevermind, eyeing a dollar bill hanging on a hook. With legendary tracks like “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, the album has sold over 30 million copies, becoming a rock reference.
“Elden spent three decades enjoying his fame”
End of August, one month before the 30e anniversary of the album’s release, Spencer Elden had filed a complaint on the grounds that neither he nor his parents had given any authorization to use his image “and certainly not for the commercial exploitation of child pornography images of his person ”. The plaintiff, who said he never received financial compensation for the photo, claimed $ 150,000 in damages from each of the 15 people he was suing, including former members of Nirvana, the executor of Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love, and photographer Kirk Weddle.
In a note responding to the complaint, the latter argued in particular that “Elden spent three decades enjoying his fame as a baby nirvana self-proclaimed ”. “He remade the photo in exchange for remunerations on numerous occasions; he got the album title tattoo Nevermind On the chest […], he autographed copies of the album cover to sell them on eBay and he used that link to try and hit on women, ”they listed.
