Lawyers for Nirvana have responded to Spencer Elden‘s latest filing in the ongoing lawsuit over the Nevermind cover, Rolling Stone reports.
In documents obtained by the magazine, Nirvana’s legal team calls Elden’s complaint, which was amended in January for the second time following the original lawsuit’s filing in August 2021, “strike three.”
“This case must end,” the motion reads.
As previously reported, Elden’s suit alleged that the artwork for Nirvana’s Nevermind constituted child pornography. The now-iconic cover features a photo of Elden, then a four-month-old baby, swimming naked underwater while reaching for a dollar bill.
Surviving Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, as well as the late Kurt Cobain and his widow, Courtney Love, were among the defendants named in the suit.
In November 2021, Elden filed his first amended complaint with additional allegations, including that cover photographer Kirk Weddle, another named defendant, also took photos of Elden “dressed up and depicted as Hugh Hefner,” the notorious founder of Playboy.
The next month, Nirvana filed to dismiss Elden’s case, declaring not only that his claims were “not serious” and “absurd,” but that the statute of limitations on his allegations had expired. A judge then granted Nirvana’s request this past January, but allowed for Elden to amend and refile his suit, which he did just before the deadline last month.
Nirvana’s lawyers now argue “the time has run” on Elden’s suit, and request dismissal with prejudice, meaning he could no longer refile.
“Elden’s decision to not sue these defendants for the past 30 years, despite his decades-long knowledge of their same and unvaried conduct, is dispositive of his claim,” the motion reads. “It is as simple as that.”
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