Appeals court rules Nirvana can be sued for child porn over ‘Nevermind’ album cover
FILE – Nirvana band members Krist Novoselic, from left, Dave Grohl and Kurt Cobain pose after receiving the award for best alternative video for “In Bloom” at the 10th annual MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 2, 1993, in Universal City, Calif. A 30-year-old man who appeared nude at 4 months old in 1991 on the cover of Nirvana’s “Nevermind” album is suing the band and others, alleging the image is child pornography they have profited from. The suit, filed by Spencer Elden on Tuesday, Aug 24, 2021, seeks at least $150,000 from each of more than a dozen defendants, including the Kurt Cobain estate, surviving Nirvana members Novocelic and Grohl and Geffen Records. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)
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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — An appeals court has ruled that Nirvana can be sued for child porn over its iconic “Nevermind” album cover, which depicted a naked baby in a pool grabbing for a dollar bill.
The court said the band’s re-release of the album in 2021 for its 30th anniversary meant that Spencer Elden — the boy on the cover — could claim personal injury within the 10 years prior to filing his complaint.
The court’s opinion was released on Thursday.
“If a victim learns a defendant has distributed child pornography and does not sue, but then later learns the defendant has done so again many years later, the statue of limitations…does not prevent the plaintiff from bringing a claim based on the new injury,” the court said, reversing a lower court’s decision that Elden couldn’t sue because the statute of limitations had expired.
Whether or not the album cover constitutes child pornography was not at issue in the appeal, according to documents.
“Because Elden’s claim is not barred by the ten-year statute of limitations…the district court erred in granting Defendants’ motion to dismiss on statute of limitations grounds,” the court said in its opinion.
Elden recreated the album cover (while wearing swim trunks) for the album’s 25th anniversary in 2016, according to the New York Post.
Elden turned 18 in 2009 and initially sued the band in 2021 at 30 years old. Nirvana’s attorneys filed a motion to dismiss based on the 10-year statute of limitations, and, when Elden’s attorneys failed to file a motion to oppose by the deadline, the judge dismissed the lawsuit.
