After months of being pending in court, the lawsuit involving Nirvana and Spencer Elden – known for appearing on the cover of Nevermind at 4 months old – was dismissed for the last time.
Last Friday, February 2nd, Judge Fernando M. Olguin ruled that Spencer Elden waited too long to file his lawsuit. The decision brought an end to the dispute that had been ongoing for about a year.
“In summary,” declared Judge Olguin, “Because it is indisputable that [Elden] did not file his complaint within the 10-year period since he discovered the violation, the court concluded that his appeal is untimely. Because the plaintiff had the opportunity to acknowledge deficiencies in his complaint with respect to the statute of limitations, the court believes it would be futile to grant the plaintiff a fourth opportunity to file an amended complaint.”
Commenting on the matter, Nirvana's lawyer, Bert Deixler , told Reuters that they are "pleased that this meritless case has come to a swift conclusion."
Timeline of the Spencer Elden v. Nirvana lawsuit
In August 2021, Spencer Elden, best known as the famous naked baby who appears on Nirvana's legendary album cover, filed a lawsuit against the band alleging that the image constitutes "child pornography" and "sexual exploitation."
Despite several attempts to add evidence to the case, including citing passages from Kurt Cobain's diary , the case was first dismissed by Judge Fernando M. Olguin in January , weeks after Nirvana responded legally to Spencer , alleging that he had "benefited for three decades" from his fame as the baby of Nevermind .
At the time, Spencer was given a deadline by the court to make changes to his statement and present a new indictment, which was rejected for the third and final time this Friday.
