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 Nerve memory de Nirvana, was dismissed by a California judge on Monday, according to a court document.
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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 dated Monday.
The judge gave Spencer Elden a final deadline – until January 13, 2022 – to file a new complaint.
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“We will file a second complaint very quickly. We are confident in the fact that Spencer will be able to move this file forward, ”reacted the plaintiff’s lawyer, Robert Lewis, contacted by AFP.
Photographed in 1991 at the age of 4 months, Spencer Elden is shown nude in a swimming pool on the cover of Nevermind, look at 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.
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 himself”.
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 the former members of Nirvana, the executor of Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love, as well as photographer Kirk Weddle.
In a note responding to the complaint, the latter notably argued that “Elden has spent three decades enjoying his fame as a self-proclaimed ‘baby Nirvana’.”
“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 on eBay and he used that link to try to hook up with women, ”they listed.