An American judge has ruled against a man who tried to sue the band Nirvana over an album cover which featured him as a baby.

The band’s 1991 Nevermind album had a cover photograph of a naked Spencer Elden swimming in a pool towards a dollar note.

Mr Elden’s parents were paid $200 for the photo shoot at the start of the 1990s when. Nirvana was a relatively unknown band.

Now aged 31, Mr Elden has claimed he was exploited and is deserving of the equivalent of $220,000 in damages for the use of his image.

In the latest blow to his case, a US judge ruled that he has left it too late to sue the band.

Spencer Elden sued the band over claims of child pornography.

Mr Elden had argued that he had suffered distress and lost earnings as a result of the use of his image on the album cover.

His legal team had claimed he deserved a payment because the album was akin to “commercial child pornography” that resulted in “lifelong damages”.

Rolling Stone reports that District Judge Fernando Olguin wrote that Mr Elden waited too long to file the lawsuit, based on a 10-year statute of limitations.

“In short, because it is undisputed that [Elden] did not file his complaint within ten years after he discovered a violation… the court concludes that his claim is untimely,” Mr Olguin wrote.

“Because plaintiff had an opportunity to address the deficiencies in his complaint regarding the statute of limitations, the court is persuaded that it would be futile to afford plaintiff a fourth opportunity to file an amended complaint.

Lawyers for Nirvana welcomed the decision.

“We are pleased that this meritless case has been brought to a speedy final conclusion,” said Nirvana’s lawyer Bert Deixler.