Defendants argue statue of limitations have expired
A lawyer for Nirvana has responded to a lawsuit regarding the artwork for the band’s 1991 breakthrough album, Nevermind. Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, the estate of Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love, photographer Kirk Weddle, Universal Music Group, the David Geffen Co., Warner Music Group, and others were all named as litigants in a child pornography suit earlier this year.
The man featured on Nirvana’s iconic Nevermind cover, Spencer Elden, filed the lawsuit in California in August, claiming the photo of the four month old baby swimming underwater in the nude with his genitalia exposed constitutes child pornography. However, Billboard has obtained the band’s response asking to dismiss the filing in a California federal court on Wednesday (Dec 22nd).
The defendants argue that Elden’s claims are “barred by the applicable statute of limitations” and that “Elden’s claim that the photograph on the Nevermind album cover is ‘child pornography’ is, on its face, not serious.”
“[T]he Nevermind cover photograph was taken in 1991. It was world-famous by no later than 1992. Long before 2011, as Elden has pled, Elden knew about the photograph, and knew that he (and not someone else) was the baby in the photograph. He has been fully aware of the facts of both the supposed ‘violation’ and ‘injury’ for decades,” the defendants claim.
In his suit, Elden says 40 to 50 different sexually graphic images of Elder were produced with a “goal of enhancing and increasing the commercial success of Nirvana, L.L.C.’s Nevermind album.” The suit accuses frontman Kurt Cobain of being “instrumental in selecting Spencer’s image for the album cover” and “chose the image depicting Spencer — like a sex worker— grabbing for a dollar bill that is positioned dangling from a fishhook in front of his nude body with his penis explicitly displayed.”
Cobain agreed to place a sticker strategically over his genitals after receiving pushback from others. The sticker read, “If you’re offended by this, you must be a closet pedophile.” However, the sticker was never incorporated into the album cover and left Elden fully exposed.
Elden is asking for $150k from each defendant, which includes Weddle, Courtney Love, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, Universal Music Group, the David Geffen Co., Warner Music Group, and others responsible for the estate of the late Kurt Cobain.
The album, released in September 1991, celebrated its 30th anniversary with a multi format deluxe reissue in November. A total of 94 audio and video tracks, featuring 70 previously unreleased, are available across configurations ranging from Super Deluxe Editions to standard digital, 2 CD and single disc vinyl with bonus 7-inch. The set contains four newly remastered live shows that will be available in both vinyl (8LPs – 180-gram black vinyl – all in premium tip-on jackets — plus the new 7-inch – A-side: “Endless, Nameless” / B-side: “Even In His Youth” and “Aneurysm”) and 5 CDs plus Blu-ray featuring the complete Live in Amsterdam, Netherlands concert video newly remastered audio & video in HD Super Deluxe vinyl expected to ship on May 27, 2022.
