A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit by a man who claimed the image of his 4-month-old self on rock group Nirvana’s “Nevermind” album was child pornography.The signature album cover, which earned his parents $200, features a nude Spencer Elden, now in his 30s, reaching for a dollar bill attached to a fishing hook in a pool of water.Elden initially filed the lawsuit about four years ago against Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic and the estate of Kurt Cobain, among others. But he’s faced an uphill battle.His lawsuit was dismissed twice before, including during one instance in 2022 when the judge said it violated the 10-year statute of limitations (which would have started when he turned 18). However, an appeals court reversed the judge’s decision and allowed Elden’s lawsuit to move forward in 2023.In the most recent ruling, obtained by HuffPost and first reported by Billboard, Judge Fernando M. Olguin wrote: “Neither the pose, focal point, setting, nor overall context suggest the album cover features sexually explicit conduct.”“This image – an image that is most analogous to a family photo of a nude child bathing – is plainly insufficient to support a finding of [child pornography],” Olguin continued. “Nudity must be coupled with other circumstances that make the visual depiction lascivious or sexually provocative.” In a statement obtained by multiple outlets, Nirvana’s attorney Bert H. Deixler said: “We are delighted that the court has ended this meritless case and freed our creative clients of the stigma of false allegations.”“Nevermind” was released on Sept. 24, 1991, along with the seemingly inseparable photograph of Elden and hit songs like “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Come as You Are.” The album hit the highest rank on the Billboard 200 in January 1992 and subsequently spent 554 weeks on the chart, according to Billboard. Over time, Elden has recreated the image, signed copies of it and even received financial benefits, according to the lawsuit.However, in 2018, Elden told GQ Australia that he had wrestled with the idea of his image being used without his permission.“Recently, I’ve been thinking, ‘What if I wasn’t OK with my freaking penis being shown to everybody?’” he said. “I didn’t really have a choice.”In that same interview, Elden also claimed that he asked Nirvana to participate in his art show, but they wouldn’t talk to him directly.“I was getting referred to their managers and their lawyers,” he claimed. “Why am I still on their cover if I’m not that big of a deal?”The judge argued Tuesday that Elden’s “actions relating to the album over time are difficult to square with his contentions that the album cover constitutes child pornography and that he sustained serious damages as a result.”Attorneys for Nirvana and Elden, respectively, did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.Close