American justice addresses an end to receive Spencer Elden. The 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 Nervermind 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 did not respond to the arguments put forward by Nirvana’s lawyers in particular to argue that his action was unfounded, according to this 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 soon. We are confident that Spencer will be able to move this file forward.”, reacted the lawyer of Spencer Elden, Robert Lewis, contacted by AFP.
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 titles like Smells Like Teen Spirit, the album sold over 30 million copies, becoming a rock reference.
At the end of August, a month before the 30th anniversary of the album’s release, Spencer Elden had filed a complaint, on the grounds that neither he nor his parents had given any permission 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 has spent three decades enjoying his fame as the self-proclaimed ‘baby Nirvana’“. “He remade the photo in exchange for remuneration on numerous occasions; he had the album title + Nevermind + tattooed on his chest (…) he signed copies of the album cover for sell them on eBay and he used this link to try to pick up some women “, they listed.