The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Spencer Elden's lawsuit against Nirvana members for child pornography reopened. Although this had been scrapped in 2022, the re-release of the album Nevermindon the cover of which the plaintiff appears naked as a baby, lays the groundwork for the case to return to court.
Young artist Spencer Elden sued Nirvana for sexual exploitation in 2021, but the case was dismissed, as the authorities considered that too much time had passed. However, the lawsuit has been reopened by the California Court of Appeals, since the group republished the photo in which he appears naked when he was a baby, due to the re-release of the album.
Spencer, who was just four months old when he was photographed swimming naked, is seeking financial compensation, alleging that neither Kurt Cobain, nor the rest of Nirvana, protected him from being sexually exploited. Although the case had been dismissed, The Court of Appeals considers that each republication of the album may constitute a new injuryso the lawsuit could continue, he announced TMZ.
The case of Spencer Elden has caused controversy, since the young man often said that he felt proud and even grateful for being the baby on the cover of Nirvana. When he filed the first lawsuit, it had been 30 years since the album's release in 1991. In the complaint, he alleged that his “true identity and legal name are forever linked to commercial sexual exploitation.” that he experienced when he was a minor (because of the image) that has been distributed and sold around the world from when he was a baby to the present day.”
At that time, Spencer requested compensation of at least US$150,000 from each of the members of the band of grunge or their descendants, that is, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic; as well as Kurt Cobain's estate manager and his ex-wife, Courtney Love; as well as Kirk Weddle, the photographer who captured the image of him.
Past statements that contradict Nirvana's lawsuit
Although when the album turned 10, 20 and 25 years old, Spencer Elden was willing to recreate the image, always wearing a swimsuit, in 2016 he expressed some annoyance at the notoriety that the use of his image caused him. “I woke up suddenly already being part of this great project… It's quite difficult, you feel like you're famous for nothing.”he told Time
“It's hard not to get angry when you hear how much money it was,” he told the same medium. “(When) I go to a baseball game and think, 'Man, everyone at this game has probably seen my baby penis,'” I feel like part of my human rights have been revoked.“, expressed the artist, who on other occasions spoke positively about being the cover of Nevermind.
“It has always been something positive and has opened doors for me,” he told Guardian in 2015. “I'm now 23 years old and an artist, and this story gave me the opportunity to work with Shepard Fairey for five years, which was an incredible experience. “He is a great connoisseur of music: when he heard that I was the Nirvana baby, he thought that was great,” she said.
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