At the end of August 2021, Spencer Elden, now 30, had filed a complaint on the grounds that neither he nor his parents would have given any authorization to use his image "and certainly not for the commercial exploitation of images for child pornography of his person".
A federal provision allows victims of child pornography to seek damages from anyone who produces, distributes or owns images in which they appear.
The Los Angeles judge had closed the file on January 3 because the plaintiff had not responded in due time to the arguments opposed to him by Nirvana's lawyers.
The judge had, however, authorized Spencer Elden to file a new complaint within ten days, which he did on Wednesday.
On the cover of "Nevermind", dating from 1991, he can be seen at the age of four months, swimming naked in a swimming pool and seeming to want to catch a dollar on a hook.
With legendary titles like "Smells Like Teen Spirit", the album sold more than 30 million copies, becoming a rock reference.
The plaintiff, who says he never received financial compensation for the photo, is seeking $150,000 in damages from the 17 people he is suing, including former members of Nirvana and Kurt Cobain's executor, Courtney Love.
In their response to the initial complaint, the defense lawyers argued that "Elden has spent three decades enjoying his fame as the self-proclaimed 'baby Nirvana'".
"He has done the photo again in exchange for remuneration on numerous occasions; he has had the title of the album +Nevermind+ tattooed on his chest (...) he has signed copies of the cover of the album for sell them on eBay and he used that link to try to hit on women," they said.
© 2022 AFP