Child porn suit - Baby on 'Nevermind' album cover

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The man who, as a baby, was featured on the cover of Nirvana's "Nevermind" album is suing the former band members, the estate of Kurt Cobain and several others over the famous naked photograph. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, Spencer Elden, now 30, alleges the band violated federal child pornography laws and claims that his parents never signed a release allowing Nirvana to use the photo, CBS Los Angeles reports.

In a complaint filed in the Los Angeles federal court, Elden alleges his "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."

The album cover photo depicts Elden, who was 4 months old at the time the picture was taken, naked and swimming in a pool as a dollar bill dangles in front of him on a fishing hook. The lawsuit says the photo, allegedly chosen by Nirvana's late frontman, Kurt Cobain, suggests a "sex worker grabbing for a dollar bill."

The lawsuit alleges that Elden's parents never authorized the band to use the photo, which was taken at a Pasadena aquatic center in 1990, and that Elden received no compensation for it.

"To ensure the album cover would trigger a visceral sexual response from the viewer, (photographer Kirk) Weddle activated Spencer's 'gag reflex' before throwing him underwater in poses highlighting and emphasizing Spencer's exposed genitals," the suit alleges.

the complaint claims, Elden "has suffered and will continue to suffer lifelong damages."

The suit seeks either $150,000 from each of the 17 defendants – which include former members of Nirvana, various record companies, art directors and others – or unspecified damages to be determined at trial, CBS Los Angeles reports.

Elden has recreated the iconic photo several times, once in 2008, when he was 17, and then again in 2016 to mark the album's 25th anniversary. Elden wore shorts for both of those shoots. He told the New York Post that he was paid $200 for the 2016 photo, the same amount of money his father in 2008 told NPR he was offered for the original photoshoot that led to the album cover.

Uggh, what a blatant cash grab, that dude has been recreating that photo for years:

So many stories these days sound like they could have come straight from The Onion.

Honestly, I'm surprised the onion still exists. I remember a few years ago during the height of the trump lunacy they went several months with just a landing page that said something to the effect of Out of Business: We cant beat the real news. Just can't make this outlandish s**t up anymore.

he must be desperate for money, and a greedy shyster is using him.

Why the racial/antisemic slur?

Not seeing what you're seeing... shyster @ wikipedia
German, yes. Anti-Jewish, no.

Why the racial/antisemic slur?