A California judge on Monday dismissed the lawsuit accusing legendary grunge band Nirvana and others of child pornography for the cover of their 1991 album ‘Nevermind’.

The album cover contained an image of a naked four-month-old baby in a swimming pool, chasing after a dollar bill pierced with a fishing hook. The baby in the photo, now 30-year-old Spencer Elden, sued the band and others for child pornography a few months earlier, demanding $150,000 in damages from each of the defendants, including members of the band, Kurt Cobain’s estate, photographer Kirk Weddle, Universal Music, Geffen Records, Warner Records and MCA Music.

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Elden alleged that he would “suffer lifelong damages” for the photo, which depicts him as a naked baby with his genitals out. “(The) defendants intentionally commercially marketed Spencer’s child pornography and leveraged the shocking nature of his image to promote themselves and their music at his expense,” read an excerpt from the lawsuit.

However, lawyers representing the Nirvana argued last month that Elden had profited from being on the album cover for three decades, had ‘Nevermind’ tattooed across his chest, and that he had used his Nirvana connection to woo women several times.

“He [Elden] has re-enacted the photograph in exchange for a fee, many times; he has had the album title… tattooed across his chest; he has appeared on a talk show wearing a self-parodying, nude-colored onesie; he has autographed copies of the album cover for sale on eBay; and he has used the connection to try to pick up women,” Nirvana’s lawyers told the court a month ago, arguing that Elden’s lawsuit, “on its face, [is] not serious.”

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On the back of these claims, Elden’s legal team had been given until December 30, 2021 to respond to the the claims made by Nirvana’s lawyers, but missed the deadline, leading to the case being dismissed.

As it stands, the case has been dismissed “with leave to amend,” meaning that Elden and his legal team have time till January 13 to refile the lawsuit with appropriate charges.

It appears that Elden wants to do precisely that, as his lawyer Robert Lewis told AFP on Tuesday that they would be refiling the case “very soon.”

“We are confident that Spencer will be allowed to move forward with his case,” Lewis added.