'Nevermind' Baby Able To Reopen Lawsuit After Judge Dismissed It

Spencer Elden has reopened his lawsuit against Nirvana and Kurt Cobain's estate again, more than a year after his case was dismissed.  Elden, who's the nude baby on the band's famous Nevermind album cover, argued that the photo is child pornography; however, the judge ruled that the case was filed well past the statute of limitations (10 years) and dismissed the case with prejudice.

Now, as TMZ reports, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit revived the lawsuit stating that since the album and its cover was republished in 2021 for its 30th anniversary, stating "that each republication of the cover may constitute a new injury to Elden.”

Elden first sued the surviving members of the band and Cobain's estate in August of 2021 claiming the use of his naked photo on the iconic 1991 album cover was sexual exploitation. He argued that he was unable to give consent to its use (he was four months old at the time), and his legal guardians didn't either, thus the image was child pornography.

In 2021, Dave Grohl addressed the lawsuit, revealing if he agreed with Elden. “I don’t know that I can speak on it because I haven’t spent too much time thinking about it. I feel the same way most people do in that I have to disagree. That’s all I’ll say,” he said before adding that the band could change the cover in the future.

“I have many ideas of how we should alter that cover but we’ll see what happens,” Grohl noted. “We’ll let you know. I’m sure we’ll come up with something good.”