The first complaint had been dismissed for a procedural matter. The naked baby – now an adult – in a swimming pool which appears on the cover of the legendary album nevermind of Nirvana filed a new complaint for child pornography in Los Angeles (United States).
At the end of August 2021, Spencer Elden, now 30, had filed a legal action 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 images. child pornography of his person”. A federal provision allows victims of child pornography to seek damages from anyone who produces, distributes or owns images in which they appear.
Over 30 million copies
But the Los Angeles judge had closed the file on January 3 because the plaintiff had not responded in due time to the arguments opposed to him by Nirvana’s lawyers. The judge had, however, authorized Spencer Elden to file a new complaint within ten days, which he did on Wednesday.
On the cover of nevermind, dating from 1991, can be seen at the age of four months, swimming naked in a swimming pool and seeming to want to catch a dollar on a hook. With legendary titles like Smells Like Teen Spirit, the album has sold over 30 million copies.
He is claiming $150,000 in damages.
The plaintiff, who says he never received financial compensation for the photo, claims 150,000 dollars (about 131,000 euros) in damages from the 17 people he is suing, including former members of Nirvana and Kurt’s executor Cobain, Courtney Love.
In their response to the initial complaint, the defense attorneys argued 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 got the title of the album ‘Nevermind’ tattooed on his chest (…) he autographed copies of the album cover to sell on eBay and he used this link to try to hit on women “, they listed.