The Grunge Band Once More Wins in Legal Battle Over Famous Album Cover
A US judge has once again thrown out a legal claim filed by a man who alleged that the rock band circulated child sexual abuse imagery by featuring a picture of him as a unclothed baby swimming on the front of their landmark 1991 record Nevermind.
Judge Decides Image Cannot Be Considered Pornographic
US District Judge Fernando Olguin dismissed the lawsuit filed by claimant the individual after concluding that no reasonable jury would regard the picture as pornography.
“Aside from the reality that the claimant was unclothed on the record sleeve,” no element “comes close to bringing the photograph within the scope of the exploitation law,” the judge stated.
Legal Proceedings and Response
Lawyers for Elden did not promptly reply to a request for comment. The band’s attorney their counsel stated they were “pleased that the court has terminated this baseless lawsuit and cleared our artistic members of the stigma of false claims.”
The defendants included surviving band artists the drummer and the bassist, deceased vocalist the frontman’s wife the executor, and artist Kirk Weddle.
Origins of the Legal Dispute
The lawsuit stemmed from Nirvana’s use of a image taken by the photographer at the Pasadena Aquatic Center in California, which depicted Elden moving without clothes toward a dollar bill on a fish hook. Elden, currently in his thirties, first took legal action against the group and its label the corporation in 2021, alleging them of sexually exploiting him through his portrayal on the artwork and causing ongoing emotional injury.
Earlier Legal Decisions
Olguin had previously rejected the matter in 2022 after concluding that the plaintiff’s allegations were time-barred without considering the merits of his arguments. The appellate court later overturned that ruling in 2023.
Olguin ruled on Tuesday that the image could not be considered as child pornography, comparing it instead to a “snapshot of a unclothed infant swimming.”
