A federal judge has dismissed with prejudice Spencer Elden’s lawsuit over Nirvana’s “Nevermind” album cover, granting the defendants’ motion for summary judgment, according to court records filed Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Fernando M. Olguin entered judgment closing the case — originally filed in 2021 — that accused Nirvana and a broad group of labels and individuals of violating federal child-pornography statutes and related laws.
The single-page judgment ends Elden’s claims and bars him from refiling the suit in federal court.
Elden’s complaint alleged that members of Nirvana and their creative team knowingly produced and commercially exploited a nude photo of him as a 4-month-old for the 1991 “Nevermind” cover, and that record labels and the Cobain estate continued to benefit from the image’s widespread distribution.
The complaint sought injunctive relief, actual or liquidated damages of at least $150,000 per defendant, punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and other remedies.
The filing traced the band’s rise, described the 1991 Pasadena photo shoot, and argued the cover constituted a “lascivious exhibition” under federal law.
It also advanced claims under the federal sex-trafficking statute and several California privacy and negligence theories.
The ruling dismissed Elden’s case “with prejudice,” a legal term that closes the matter and prevents the same claims from being brought again in the same court.
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