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Nirvana naked baby album cover lawsuit revived by U.S. court

Lawsuit alleges Spencer Elden has suffered 91Ƶpermanent harm91Ƶ from photo taken when he was a baby
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FILE - Nirvana band members Krist Novoselic, from left, Dave Grohl and Kurt Cobain pose after receiving the award for best alternative video for 91ƵIn Bloom91Ƶ at the 10th annual MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 2, 1993, in Universal City, Calif. A federal appeals court has revived a child sexual exploitation lawsuit filed by the man who appeared naked as a 4-month-old infant on the 1991 cover of Nirvana91Ƶs album 91ƵNevermind.91Ƶ Spencer Elden91Ƶs lawsuit against the grunge rock group was dismissed last year but a the court in California revived it on Thursday and sent it back to a lower court. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

A federal appeals court on Thursday revived a child sexual exploitation lawsuit filed by the man who appeared naked as a 4-month-old on the cover of Nirvana91Ƶs 1991 album 91ƵNevermind.91Ƶ

Spencer Elden91Ƶs lawsuit against the grunge rock group alleges that he has suffered 91Ƶpermanent harm91Ƶ as the band and others profited from the image of him underwater in a swimming pool, appearing to grab for a dollar bill on a fish hook.

The suit says the image violated federal laws on child sexual abuse material, although no criminal charges were ever sought.

A federal judge in California threw out the lawsuit last year but allowed Elden to file a revised version, which the judge later dismissed on grounds that it was outside the 10-year statute of limitations of one of the laws used as a cause of action.

Thursday91Ƶs decision by a three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in California reversed that ruling and sent the case back to the lower court.

The appellate panel found that each republication of an image 91Ƶmay constitute a new personal injury91Ƶ with a new deadline and cited the image91Ƶs appearance on a 30th anniversary reissue of 91ƵNevermind91Ƶ in 2021.

91ƵThe question whether the 91ƵNevermind91Ƶ album cover meets the definition of child pornography is not at issue in this appeal,91Ƶ the court wrote, according to the .

In an email to The Associated Press, Nirvana attorney Bert Deixler called the ruling a 91Ƶprocedural setback.91Ƶ

91ƵWe will defend this meritless case with vigor and expect to prevail,91Ƶ he wrote.

The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been victims of sexual abuse unless they come forward publicly, as Elden has.

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