California: American rock band, Nirvana, has been sued by the baby whose photograph was featured on the band's 1991 album, 'Nevermind'. The baby, who is now a 30-year old man has filed a lawsuit against the band on charges of sexual exploitation.
The album cover in question displays Spencer Elden as a four-month-old baby in a swimming pool reaching out for a dollar bill in front of him that is dangling on a fishing line.
Elden has alleged that his parents did not sign any release that authorises the use of his image on the album cover. He has also called out the album cover for child pornography.
The legal papers filed in California claims that "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."
The US law does not generally consider non-sexualized photos of infants as child pornography. However, Robert Y. Lewis has claimed that the addition of the dollar bill on the album cover gives the baby the image of a "sex worker". The legal papers also say that the band had promised that a sticker will be put over Elden's genitals but did not do so.
Elden argues that his "true identity and legal name are forever tied to the commercial sexual exploitation he experienced as a minor which has been distributed and sold worldwide from the time he was a baby to the present day."
He further adds that he has "suffered and will continue to suffer lifelong damages" due to the album cover, and is undergoing "extreme and permanent emotional distress" with the addition of "interference with his normal development and educational progress" and "medical and psychological treatment".
For the damages, Elden has demanded 150,000 dollars from each of the 15 defendants. This includes surviving band members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic; the managers of Kurt Cobain's estate; Cobain's former wife Courtney Love; and photographer Kirk Weddle.
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