Spencer Elden, “Nirvana Baby” who appeared on the cover of Nirvana‘s 1991 album Nevermind as a four-month-old baby, has officially appealed with his attorneys in December (2022), the dismissal of his September 2 (2022) child pornography lawsuit against the surviving members of the band Nirvana, Kurt Cobain‘s widow Courtney Love, Universal Music Group, and cover photographer Kirk Weddle.
The story began when Elden‘s father accepted $200 for a photo of his four-month-old son for appearing on the cover of Nirvana‘s Nevermind album, Elden previously expressed both his approval and dismay at being associated with the album cover but he has posed three times before for the album’s 10th, 17th and 20th anniversaries, and stated in an interview that being the “Nirvana Baby” had “always opened doors for him”.
Despite this, Elden changed his mind before Nevermind‘s 30th anniversary, claiming in his redacted lawsuit action that he suffered “permanent damage” from the photo, as well as arguing that the defendants had “knowingly produced, possessed, and publicized commercial child pornography.
In the new filing with California’s Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, they claim the presiding judge erroneously ruled that a statute of limitations applies to the case, because the harm Elden suffered from the photo continues.
They have also invoked Masha’s Law, signed in 2006, which allows victims of child pornography to claim monetary damages well into adulthood. Surviving Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, along with Love, Weddle and Universal Music Group, have not commented on these developments.
