Nirvanahas won the lawsuit over theirNevermindcover art.
“In short, because it is undisputed that [Elden] did not file his complaint within 10 years after he discovered a violation… the court concludes that his claim is untimely,” Olguin wrote, according toRolling Stone.
“Because plaintiff had an opportunity to address the deficiencies in his complaint regarding the statute of limitations, the court is persuaded that it would be futile to afford plaintiff a fourth opportunity to file an amended complaint,” continued the judge.
Paul Bergen/Redferns
Bert Deixler, a lawyer for Nirvana, told PEOPLE shortly after, “We are pleased that this meritless lawsuit has been brought to a just conclusion.”
Meanwhile, Margaret Mabie, Elden’s lawyer, told PEOPLE the “lawsuit was dismissed based on a misunderstanding of the statute of limitations” — and his notice of appeal has been filed. “This ruling’s interpretation of the statute of limitations on Masha’s Law contravenes over fifteen years of well-settled precedent and the legislature’s intended purpose of the law.”
“Under this reading of the law, child pornography remedies vaporize once the victim in the contraband image turns 28 years old,” she said. “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.”
Mabie continued, “Spencer’s victimization as a child remains frozen in time. His childhood self continues to be invaded and he will be repeatedly victimized as long as theNevermindcover continues to be distributed.”
Elden, now 31, first filed suit against surviving Nirvana membersDave Grohland Krist Novoselic,Kurt Cobain’s estate and Kirk Weddle, the image’s photographer, in August 2021, alleging child sexual exploitation.
“Defendants used child pornography depicting Spencer as an essential element of a record promotion scheme commonly utilized in the music industry to get attention, wherein album covers posed children in a sexually provocative manner to gain notoriety, drive sales, and garner media attention, and critical reviews,” the complaint read.
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“Elden’s claim that the photograph on theNevermindalbum cover is ‘child pornography’ is, on its face, not serious,” the motion read. “A brief examination of the photograph, or Elden’s own conduct (not to mention the photograph’s presence in the homes of millions of Americans who, on Elden’s theory, are guilty of felony possession of child pornography) makes that clear.”
The suit was later dismissed in January, before Elden’s legal team reopened and amended it a few days later.
source: people.com
