Nirvana ‘Will Resist With Vigor’ as Naked Baby from ‘Nevermind’ Cover Appeals Lawsuit Loss

The antheral who appeared arsenic a nude babe connected the screen of Nirvana’s 1991 medium Nevermind is erstwhile again asking an appeals tribunal to resurrect his kid pornography suit implicit the iconic medium art.

Lawyers for Spencer Elden filed their entreaty connected Thursday (Oct. 2), conscionable 2 days aft a national justice issued a judgement throwing out his lawsuit against Nirvana for a 2nd time. Judge Fernando M. Olguin primitively tossed the suit arsenic time-barred backmost successful 2022, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals revived the claims a twelvemonth aboriginal connected technicalities.

Judge Olguin held this clip astir that there’s thing pornographic astir the celebrated Nevermind medium art, which depicts a four-month-old Elden swimming successful a excavation and chasing a dollar attached to a fishhook. The justice said this representation is not sexually explicit oregon suggestive, but alternatively is “most analogous to a household photograph of a nude kid bathing.”

Elden volition present erstwhile again inquire the Ninth Circuit to overturn that judgement and let the lawsuit to determination guardant toward trial. His lawyers did not instantly instrumentality a petition for remark connected the appeal.

Nirvana’s ineligible team, meanwhile, appears assured arsenic they cogwheel up for a 2nd Ninth Circuit showdown successful the long-running battle.

“We volition defy with vigor and volition prevail,” says lawyer Bert Deixler, who represents the set arsenic good arsenic its label, Universal Music Group, and Nevermind screen lensman Kirk Weddle, successful a remark to Billboard.

Nevermind was primitively released successful in September 1991, topping the Billboard 200 successful January 1992 and yet spending a whopping 554 weeks connected the chart. It’s wide considered 1 of the astir influential albums successful stone history, and its screen creation has been interpreted arsenic an edgy critique of greed and capitalism.

Elden, who is present successful his 30s, has been pursuing ineligible enactment implicit the screen since 2021. His civilian suit alleges that the show of his babe genitals constitutes kid pornography nether national instrumentality — claims agelong denied by Nirvana and present rejected by Judge Olguin.

In summation to determining that the Nevermind cover was not sexually-charged, the justice pointed retired successful his ruling that Elden appeared to endorse the photograph for galore years earlier deciding to prosecute litigation. Elden astatine times reenacted the photo, sold autographed memorabilia, and adjacent referred to himself arsenic the “Nirvana baby” — actions that are “difficult to quadrate with his contentions that the medium screen constitutes kid pornography and that helium sustained superior damages arsenic a result,” according to Judge Olguin.