A California district court judge dismissed a child pornography lawsuit filed by Spencer Elden, who was pictured as a baby for the Nirvana album cover in 1991, It does not matter.

The August lawsuit claimed that the group “knowingly produced, possessed and made commercial child pornography depicting Spencer, and that they knowingly received value in return for doing so.”

Judge Fernando M. Olguin ruled that the case should be dismissed on the grounds that Elden’s legal team had missed the December 30 deadline to file an opposition to the Nirvana estate’s claim. Elden now has until Jan. 13 to file a second complaint, on which date, according to documents viewed by Twirl, the court “will grant the defendants’ request and give the plaintiff a final opportunity to modify his complaint.” The Nirvana estate then has until January 27 to respond to the new file. If Elden’s team misses the January 13 deadline, Elden will not be able to resubmit.

In a statement last month, Nirvana’s estate claimed that Elden not only profited from his role in the album cover art, but that the statute of limitations for a federal child pornography lawsuit has almost certainly already expired. The lawsuit is only valid for 10 years from the time a victim “reasonably finds out” about it, and the estate claims Elden knew the notoriety of the photograph before 2011, when Elden was 20 years old.

“Long before 2011, as Elden argued, Elden was aware of the photo and knew that he (and not someone else) was the baby in the photo,” the statement read. “He has been fully aware of the facts of the alleged ‘violation’ and ‘injury’ for decades. “

Further, the estate claims that Elden’s trial, if successful, would criminalize every owner of the estate. It does not matter. “Elden’s claim that the photograph on the It does not matter the album cover is ‘child pornography’ is, at first glance, not serious, “the group wrote.” A brief review of the photograph, or of Elden’s conduct The Elden Theory , are guilty of criminal possession of child pornography), makes clear. “