Nirvana Nevermind child pornography lawsuit dismissed by judge

A judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Spencer Elden, who was photographed as a naked baby on the cover of Nirvana's Nevermind album cover and, now as an adult, accused the band and Geffen Records of profiting off child pornography, according to court documents obtained by EW.

Elden's lawsuit, filed in August, stated the album's image art was taken and used without his consent, and that the nudity of the photo amounted to child porn.

The list of defendants named in the suit included former Nirvana members Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, and Chad Channing; Kurt Cobain's widow Courtney Love and two other managers of his estate; photographer Kirk Weddle and art director Robert Fisher; plus Geffen Records, Warner Records, and Universal Music Group.

Variety reported in December that attorneys for Grohl, Novoselic, Weddle, Love, Cobain, Nirvana, L.L.C., MCA Records, UMG Recordings, Inc., Universal Music Group, Inc., The David Geffen Company and Geffen Records jointly sought a dismissal of Elden's suit.

In the motion to dismiss, they reportedly argued the suit was time-barred and that Elden "spent three decades profiting from his celebrity as the self-anointed 'Nirvana Baby.'"

Judge Fernando M. Olguin presided over the case at the U.S. District Court in Central California and dismissed the suit on Monday after Elden missed the deadline of Dec. 30 to oppose the defendants' motion to dismiss, according to documents obtained by EW.

The dismissal was given "with leave to amend," so Elden could file a new complaint on the "defects" in the defendants' motion to dismiss. But he must do so by Jan. 13 or the suit will officially be dismissed without prejudice.

— Additional reporting by Celine Wojtala

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