Nirvana Win Lengthy ‘Nevermind’ Cover Legal Battle

Nirvana have finally won the prolonged legal battle surrounding their Nevermind album cover, with a US judge definitively ruling that the image does not constitute child pornography.

As per Rolling Stone, Judge Fernando M. Olguin dismissed the lawsuit brought by Spencer Elden, who appeared as a naked four-month-old baby on the 1991 album cover, swimming towards a dollar bill on a fishing hook.

The court’s decision marks the second dismissal of Elden’s case, though this ruling addressed the core allegations more directly than the previous 2022 dismissal. Olguin’s earlier decision had focused on statute of limitations issues, ruling that Elden, now 33, had waited too long to file his civil suit. However, an appeals court overturned that decision in late 2023, allowing the case to proceed once more.

In his latest ruling, Judge Olguin applied the legal criteria established in United States vs. Dost to evaluate whether the Nevermind cover met the definition of child pornography. These factors include whether the image’s focal point centres on genitalia, whether the pose appears sexually suggestive, and whether the visual is designed to elicit a sexual response from viewers.

The judge concluded that the album cover failed to meet these criteria, comparing it instead to “a family photo of a nude child bathing.” He noted that the image was “plainly insufficient to support a finding of lasciviousness” and stated that “neither the pose, focal point, setting, nor overall context suggest the album cover features sexually explicit conduct.”

Olguin’s decision highlighted several contextual factors that undermined Elden’s claims. The presence of Elden’s parents during the photoshoot and the photographer Kirk Weddle’s status as a close family friend were cited as relevant considerations. More significantly, the judge pointed to Elden’s decades-long embrace of his connection to the album.

Evidence presented to the court showed that Elden had “embraced and financially benefitted from being featured on the album cover” throughout his life. He had been paid to recreate the photograph multiple times, sold autographs on posters and memorabilia, referred to himself as the “Nirvana baby,” tattooed Nevermind across his chest, and even sent Weddle a thank-you postcard featuring a hand-drawn version of the album cover.

The judge observed that Elden’s “actions relating to the album over time are difficult to square with his contentions that the album cover constitutes child pornography and that he sustained serious damages as a result of the album cover.”