A federal court in California dismissed the lawsuit filed by the baby featured on the iconic album cover never mind (1991) by Nirvana and that he had accused of child pornography to the rock band, local media reported on Monday.
It is the second time thatspencer eldenwho is now 31 years old, loses a lawsuit against the former members of the band for the cover in which appeared naked underwater looking at a dollar bill.
Judge Fernando Olguin dismissed the complaint on Friday because Elden knew he was the star of that album for more than ten years and It took too long to make your claim.
A quarter of a century: 25 years later, Spencer Elden poses with the album.
The first demand
Last January, the same magistrate rejected a first request of Elden because he did not file within the established period his response to the request of the Nirvana estate for the case to be dismissed.
Olguín was then open to amending his decision if the plaintiff presented a new lawsuit, which is what he finally did, although it was dismissed.
In his original complaint, Elden accused Nirvana of promoting child pornography intentionally and commercially and make use of your image to promote themselves and their music.
The lawsuit also argued that the defendants benefited and continue to benefit from “the commercialization of the sexual exploitation“from Elden.
Among those named in the complaint were Dave Grohl (current leader of the Foo Fighters and former Nirvana drummer) and Krist Novoselicbassist who together with the deceased Kurt Cobain (1967-1994) were part of the formation of Nirvana.
The lawsuit also pointed to Kirk Weddlewho was the cover photographer for never mindAlready Courtney Lovewidow and heir to the Cobain estate.
Strangely, and dealing left and right, the ex-baby also accused chad channingwho was Nirvana’s drummer in its early years and who left the group in 1990, that is, before the iconic Nevermind.
This was NIrvana’s last photo shoot, in the summer of 1993. Kurt Cobain’s cardigan fetched $75,000 at auction.
the cap of never mind is considered one of the most emblematic in the history of rock and, as we all know, it shows a baby diving into a pool and hunting for a dollar bill.
Jump into the pool…
As a teenager and as an adult, Elden has jumped back into the pool to recreate the cover several times.
He did, for example, in 2016when the album was a quarter of a century old, but shortly after, and for unknown reasons, he began to show his disgust at being linked to that image.
elden was alone a four month old baby when he starred in the famous album cover. Last year, she decided to take on the legal action package, upping the ante to “child pornography.”
Elden wanted to recreate the famous cover of Nevermind, when there was still no legal fight in between.
“The accused promoted child pornography of Spencer in an intentional and commercial manner and used the shocking nature of their image to promote themselves and their music at Spencer’s expense,” said the complaint filed in a California court.
Resentment towards Nirvana
Elden was seeking damages because, the lawsuit read, “the damages it has suffered and will continue to suffer for life“.
Elden expressed his resentment towards Nirvana, since despite having won millions of dollars with Nevermind, they never communicated with him or made him part of the profits.
“Everyone who participated in the record has tons and tons of money. I feel like it’s the latest in grunge. I live at my mother’s house and I drive a Honda Civic. It is difficult not to get angry when you hear the amount of money that was at stake, ”she expressed a few months ago.
The cover became so famous that many fans tried to honor it with their own children. instagram photo
For Spencer, having risked perishing underwater didn’t do much good. Or, rather, little or nothing.
Parents’ opinion
“My parents knew who Nirvana was, but they weren’t very interested in the grunge scene. My father, Rick (who worked in Hollywood as a special effects artist), was attending art school at the time and his friends often asked him for help with their projects,” he explained on the 25th anniversary of the historic photograph. of the.
This is how they called him to tell him: “Do you want to earn some money today and throw your son in the pool?”.
And of course, Kurt Cobain himself had the pleasure of posing as a “cover boy”. Photo EFE
The protagonist of the photo recounts: “My parents took me there, apparently they blew on my face to stimulate my immersion reflex (which makes babies close their glottis in water), they immersed me, they took some photos of me and They pulled in. That was it. They paid them $200 and they went to eat some tacos”.
Source EFE
CJL
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