Nirvana are being sued by the baby that is the cover for the band’s infamous “Nevermind” album over sexual exploitation claims.
Spencer Elden believes that his parents never signed forms that granted the band permission to using his image on the album.
The cover shows Elden at four-years-old reaching for a dollar bill in a swimming pool as the 30-year-old now believes the image constitutes as child pornography.
“The images exposed Spencer’s intimate body part and lasciviously displayed Spencer’s genitals from the time he was an infant to the present day,” legal papers filed in California claim as quoted by the BBC.
Under U.S Law, non-sexualised images of infants aren’t classed as child pornography with the case declaring that Nirvana promised to cover Elden’s genitals with a sticker.
As reported by the BBC, Elden is asking for damages worth $150,000 from each of the 15 defendants. This includes the surviving members of Nirvana, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, and the manager of the late Kurt Cobain and his estate, Courtney Love, Cobain’s former wife, and photographer Kirk Weddle.
To celebrate the 10th, 20th and 25th anniversaries of Nevermind, Elden has recreated the album cover numerous times as a teenager and an adult.
Five years ago, he told Time Magazine that “he got a little upset” about the image as he’s grown older. “I just woke up already being a part of this huge project,” he said.
“It’s pretty difficult – you feel like you’re famous for nothing.
“It’s hard not to get upset when you hear how much money was involved,” he continued. “[When] I go to a baseball game and think about it: ‘Man, everybody at this baseball game has probably seen my little baby penis,’ I feel like I got part of my human rights revoked.”