Last month, Nirvana issued a statement about the lawsuit it faces over its Nevermind album art, and in it, the band says, “[Spencer] Elden’s claim that the photograph on the Nevermind album cover is ‘child pornography’ is, on its face, not serious.” Now, the band picked up a win in the legal proceedings, as Spin reports the lawsuit has been dismissed. That doesn’t mean the case is over yet, though.
In US District Court in Central California on Monday, Judge Fernando M. Olguin dismissed the case “with leave to amend.” Elden’s legal team missed a December 30, 2021 deadline to file an opposition to the Nirvana estate’s request to have the case dismissed. Now, though, they have until January 13 to re-file a second complaint, which the court says will “grant defendants’ Motion and give plaintiff one last opportunity to amend his complaint.”
If this deadline is not met, there will be no further opportunity to re-file. The ruling reads, “Failure to timely file a Second Amended Complaint shall result in this action being dismissed without prejudice for failure to prosecute and/or failure to comply with a court order.” If the suit is re-filed, Nirvana’s estate will have until January 27 to reply to the new suit.
