“It’s hard not to get upset when you hear how much money was involved,” Elden said. He also discussed never meeting anyone from Nirvana, telling Time that it’s “pretty difficult-you feel like you’re famous for nothing, but you didn’t really do anything but their album.” The lawsuit reportedly claims that Elden’s parents never signed a release form for the photograph that became Nevermind’s album cover.Įlden is seeking at least $150,000 from the surviving members of Nirvana (Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic), photographer Kirk Weddle, art director Robert Fisher, those involved with Kurt Cobain’s estate (Courtney Love, the executor Guy Oseary and Heather Parry, the managers), as well as the record companies who have, at some point, released Nevermind.Įlden has recreated the album cover several times over the years, most recently in 2016 for Nevermind’s 25th anniversary. “Defendants used child pornography depicting Spencer as an essential element of a record promotion scheme commonly utilized in the music industry to get attention, wherein album covers posed children in a sexually provocative manner to gain notoriety, drive sales, and garner media attention, and critical reviews.” “Defendants intentionally commercially marketed Spencer’s child pornography and leveraged the shocking nature of his image to promote themselves and their music at his expense,” the lawsuit reads, according to Variety. Lewis, argues that the photograph makes Elden look like a “sex worker.” District Court’s Central District of California on Tuesday, Elden’s lawyer, Robert Y. His parents were compensated $200 for the shoot, and Elden has recreated the album cover several times and spoken about it several times.

Nirvana’s album cover for Nevermind is world-famous, but nearly 30 years later, the man on the Nevermind album is now suing, and he claims that the album cover is child pornography.Īt just 4 months old, Spencer Elden was photographed naked in a swimming pool as a dollar bill on a fish hook was dangled in front of him.

Nirvana nevermind cover photo