A federal judge has once again dismissed the long-running lawsuit brought by Spencer Elden against Nirvana over the iconic Nevermind album cover, this time ruling definitively on the merits of the case and declaring that the famous image of a naked baby underwater is “not child po**ography.”
The ruling, issued on Tuesday, September 30, by Los Angeles federal judge Fernando M. Olguin, is a major victory for the surviving members of the legendary band and the estate of Kurt Cobain. In his decision, according to Billboard, the judge stated that the image did not come close to meeting the legal definition of the crime Elden had alleged.
“Neither the pose, focal point, setting, nor overall context suggest the album cover features se*ually explicit conduct,” Judge Olguin wrote in his ruling. “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 po**ography].”
This is the latest turn in a legal battle that has been ongoing since 2021. The case was previously dismissed by the same judge in 2022 on the grounds that Elden had waited too long to file, exceeding the statute of limitations. However, a U.S. Court of Appeals revived the case in 2023, arguing that the 30th-anniversary reissue of Nevermind in 2021 constituted a “new injury,” which allowed the lawsuit to proceed. This forced the judge to now rule on the actual substance of the claim.
In his new ruling, Judge Olguin also questioned Elden‘s motivations, pointing out the contradiction between his lawsuit and his past actions.
“Plaintiff has, for many years, embraced and financially benefited from being featured on the album cover,” the judge wrote. “Plaintiff’s actions relating to the album over time are difficult to square with his contentions that the album cover constitutes child po**ography and that he sustained serious damages as a result.”
