Spencer’s victimization as a child remains frozen in time.” Spencer Elden claims the image has caused him “lifelong damage. “Under this logic, any child pornography producer - such as Masha Allen’s original abuser- could simply wait out the clock and then re-distribute abusive material with impunity. “Masha’s law permits victims to sue for each violation of their privacy when their childhood images remain in circulation. “Most child pornography is traded well into the victim’s adulthood,” attorney Margaret Mabie told NPR. His lawyers argued US District Judge Fernando Olguin’s ruling in Los Angeles was a misinterpretation of the law. The 2005 legislation gives child pornography victims the right to sue those who produce, distribute or possess the material, but the statute of limitations expires after the victim turns 28.Įlder was 30 when he filed the suit in 2021. Spencer Elden is filing an appeal after a federal judge threw out his case Friday, on the grounds he waited too long to take legal action under Marsha’s Law. The 31-year-old who appeared nude as an infant on Nirvana’s iconic 1991 “Nevermind” album cover is continuing to pursue his lawsuit claiming the image is nothing but child pornography. The surprising truth about Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love’s marriage
Kurt Cobain’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ guitar could nab $800K at auctionīen Shapiro calls Biden ‘Kurt Cobain of politics’ in gruesome suicide reference They noted that Elden had recreated the photo multiple times, for a fee, including for the album's 25th anniversary.No apologies: Judge tosses ‘Nevermind’ baby’s child porn case against Nirvana In their December motion, Nirvana's lawyers argued the statute of limitations had expired more than a decade ago, and that Elden's claim that the photo constituted child pornography was "not serious." The album went on to sell 30 million copies, with songs such as "Smells Like Teen Spirit" becoming cultural touchstones of American pop music. In 1991, when he was four months old, Elden was photographed naked in a swimming pool reaching for a dollar bill on a fish hook, an image that has become one of the most iconic covers of all time.
On January 3, a judge dismissed Elden's case, as his legal team had failed to respond in time to a request submitted by Nirvana's lawyers to dismiss.Įlden was given 10 days to file a new case, which he did on Wednesday.
Under US federal law, victims of child sexual abuse can sue whoever produces, distributes, or possesses images of them for damages and interest. In the original court filing, his legal team argued that neither Elden nor his legal guardians "signed a release authorizing the use of any images of Spencer or of his likeness, and certainly not of commercial child pornography depicting him." Now 30 years old, Spencer Elden first filed a complaint in August 2021, in which he sought $150,000 in damages from each of 15 defendants - including surviving former members of the band, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, as well as the estate of the late lead singer Kurt Cobain, and the photographer, Kirk Weddle. Nirvana has won the dismissal of a lawsuit by a man who claimed his depiction as a naked four-month-old baby on the cover of the band's seminal 1991 album 'Nevermind' was child pornography. The man who as a baby was photographed naked for the cover of Nirvana's album "Nevermind" has filed a new lawsuit accusing the band of sexual exploitation, after his previous case was dismissed.