Nirvana officially responds to Nevermind album cover baby lawsuit

They have made an official statement.

Earlier this year it was announced that Spencer Elden, who was photographed as a baby for the iconic 1991 Nevermind album cover, intended to sue the famous grunge band. The 30-year-old Elden said that having his naked image featured on the album cover has caused him lifelong damage. Many questioned Elden's true motives for the lawsuit from the beginning as he has in the past bragged online about the fact that he is the Nevermind baby and used it to gain a following on social media. Elden even went so far as to recreate the iconic album cover only a couple of years ago. This week legal representatives issued a statement on behalf of Nirvana. The legal team state that Elden has no legal claim to the lawsuit as it has already gone beyond the statute of limitations. They went on to say that had he truly wished to sue the band he would have had to have done so within ten years of the image being first published;

“The Nevermind cover photograph was taken in 1991. It was world-famous by no later than 1992. Long before 2011, as Elden has pled, Elden knew about the photograph and knew that he (and not someone else) was the baby in the photograph. He has been fully aware of the facts of both the supposed ‘violation’ and ‘injury’ for decades.”

As it stands Elden is seeking $150,000 in damages from Nirvnana drummer Dave Grohl, bassist Krist Novoselic, the estate of Kurt Cobain, album artwork photographer Kirk Weddle and designer Robert Fisher. He has also requested that the album cover be changed for any future releases. So far Nirvana have ignored the request of Elden and even recently re-released Nevermind for its 30th anniversary in November with the original image still intact.