Nirvana has finally fired back at that Nevermind album cover lawsuit, claiming it’s “not serious.”
You’ll surely remember earlier this year when Spencer Elden, the baby from the iconic album artwork, infamously sued the grunge icons’ surviving members and Kurt Cobain’s estate. Elden, now 30, insisted that the classic cover image of him as a baby with his genitals exposed was sexual in nature.
“The permanent harm he has proximately suffered includes but is not limited to extreme and permanent emotional distress with physical manifestations, interference with his normal development and educational progress, lifelong loss of income earning capacity, loss of past and future wages, past and future expenses for medical and psychological treatment, loss of enjoyment of life, and other losses to be described and proven at trial of this matter,” the lawsuit stated.
Despite the lawsuit being dismissed by many, Elden has ploughed forward with his case, incorporating several amendments last month which included the addition of Cobain’s own journal entries.
Now Nirvana has hit back with a damning statement, as per Billboard. As they point out, Elden “has spent three decades profiting from his celebrity as the self-anointed ‘Nirvana Baby’. The statement claims that he also “re-enacted the photograph in exchange for a fee” on several occasions.
“Elden’s claim that the photograph on the Nevermind album cover is ‘child pornography’ is, on its face, not serious,” the statement says. “A brief examination of the photograph, or Elden’s own conduct (not to mention the photograph’s presence in the homes of millions of Americans who, on Elden’s theory, are guilty of felony possession of child pornography) makes that clear.”
At the time of writing, Elden has yet to respond to Nirvana’s new lawsuit. Grohl and Krist Novoselic, and Courtney Love, remain involved in the legal battle. Elden, who actually has a Nevermind tattoo, is seeking “at minimum” $150,000 from each defendant.
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He insists neither of his guardians “ever signed a release authorizing the use of any images of Spencer or of his likeness, and certainly not of commercial child pornography depicting him.”
This is a developing story so stay tuned for updates.
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