Attorneys representing Nirvana have filed a motion calling for the filing of the suit filed by American Spencer Elden against the band.
This is the first time Nirvana has responded to accusations made in August of this year.
Spencer Elden was known for posing as an infant, at age 4 months, swimming naked in a pool chasing a $1 bill on a hook for the cover of the Nevermind (1991) album.
The record was the band’s final leap into the mainstream, catapulted by hits “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, “Come As You Are” and “Lithium”.
In the original lawsuit, former band members Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Kurt Cobain (died 1994) and 12 other defendants are charged with child pornography.
The motion submitted to the American court, last Wednesday (22), asks that the process be closed by January 20, 2022, at 10:00 am, California time.
In the 29-page document obtained by CNN, lawyers argue that Spencer Elden, now 30, “spent three decades cashing in on his ‘Baby of Nirvana’ reputation,” and has only now objected to the photo.
The motion further alludes to the fact that Elden has re-enacted the famous cover in pool photos a number of times, in addition to having the album name on his chest.
“He has autographed copies of the album cover for sale on eBay, and he used the connection [com a banda] to try to win women over,” write lawyers Bert Deixler and Nary Kim.
They further argue that if Elden’s accusation were true, everyone who possesses the Nevermind photo in their home would be found guilty of being in possession of child pornography.
Despite arguments on the merits of the “Nirvana’s baby” charge, the motion filed by the lawyers cites legal specifics that would invalidate the process.
For example, Spencer Elden’s lawyer cites a law enacted in 2003 as the argument for the case involving the 2001 photo. “That premise is absurd,” Nirvana lawyers say, explaining that this law does not apply retroactively.
They also argue that federal child pornography legislation has a 10-year time period for bringing charges, counting from the time the victim “reasonably discovers” the violence he has suffered.
Lawyers say Elden was aware of his alleged damages for more than a decade before filing the lawsuit.
“Damage that will last a lifetime”
In an Aug. 24 lawsuit in California Court, attorney Robert Lewis seeks $150,000 in damages from Spencer Elden for alleged trauma caused by the cover of Nevermind.
A total of 15 defendants are prosecuted, including members of Nirvana – Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Kurt Cobain (died 1994) – Courtney Love (widow and executor of Kurt’s estate), Universal Music Group, Warner Records and others .
The lawyer alleges that Elden was a victim of child pornography, and that he “has suffered and will continue to suffer damage to the cover that will last his entire life.”
“The defendants intentionally marketed child pornography with Spencer’s image and used the shocking nature of his image to promote themselves and their music at his expense,” the lawsuit states.
Famous cape
The Nevermind album cover was taken in a swimming pool at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena, Calif., in 1991.
Photographer Kirk Weddle took 18 frames of Spencer Elden swimming – who was four months old and earned $200 at the time.
Spencer says to CNN that Kurt Cobain’s initial idea was to photograph a mother giving birth underwater.
In 2011, on the album’s 20th anniversary, Elden recreated the photo from the album – this time, swimming in shorts.
Reference: CNN Brasil
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