US court rules Nirvana album cover does not constitute child pornography

A U.S. federal court has once again dismissed a lawsuit against the iconic grunge band Nirvana, in which plaintiff Spencer Elden accused the musicians of distributing child pornography for featuring a photo of him as a naked baby on the cover of their 1991 album Nevermind, CNN reports.

U.S. District Judge Fernando Olguin ruled that no reasonable jury would consider the image pornographic. “Other than the fact that the plaintiff was naked on the album cover, nothing meets the definition of child pornography,” the judge noted.

The cover, showing Elden swimming naked in a pool reaching for a dollar on a hook, was photographed by Kirk Weddle at the Pasadena Aquatic Center in California.

Revisiting the Case

Elden, now 34, first filed the lawsuit in 2021 against Nirvana members, Kurt Cobain’s widow Courtney Love, photographer Weddle, and Universal Music Group, claiming the image sexually exploited him and caused psychological harm.

The case was initially dismissed in 2022 as time-barred, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that decision in 2023, instructing the lower court to consider the merits of the claims. At the latest hearing, Judge Olguin emphasized that the photo resembles “a family photograph of a naked child during bath time” rather than a pornographic image.