Nirvana respond to Nevermind cover lawsuit, say it's "not serious" and filed too late

Back in August, Elden, who was photographed at four-months-old for Nirvana's Nevermind album, filed a lawsuit against 15 defendants including the band's Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, the late Kurt Cobain and his estate (including Courtney Love, who is executor of his estate), photographer Kirk Weddle, and multiple record labels.

The lawsuit alleged that the defendants violated "federal criminal child pornography statutes", and Elden was seeking damages of $150,000 (£109,000). Elden also claimed that Cobain agreed to "strategically" cover his genitals with a sticker that read: "If you're offended by this, you must be a closet pedophile", but the band chose to release the album without the sticker.

He alleged that his name is "forever tied to the commercial sexual exploitation he experienced as a minor" due to the "iconic image associated with Nirvana", which is "one of the most-recognized album covers of all time".

In October Dave Grohl said he has "many ideas" on how to alter Nirvana’s Nevermind cover amid the lawsuit, but now Nirvana have responded officially, according to Billboard.

Nirvana's statement saw the band say the lawsuit is "not serious", and it was filed past the statute of limitations expiring.

"Elden has spent three decades profiting from his celebrity as the self-anointed ‘Nirvana Baby'," Nirvana's statement read.

Nirvana's statement added, "But 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."