Amy Love
Business Editor
aml7458@psu.edu
Spencer Elden, the baby shown on the album cover of Nirvana’s Nevermind, has filed a lawsuit suing 17 individuals for $150,000 each. Elden claims that federal child pornography laws were violated and that his parents never consented to the photo being distributed worldwide. The photo shows Spencer’s 4-month old self swimming in a pool naked, trying to grasp a $1 bill that is dangling in front of him on a hook.
This photo was recreated by Spencer three times on various anniversaries for the band. Elden also has a tattoo that displays Nevermind across his chest. In past interviews, Elden has shown conflicted feelings about being in the photo. In an interview in 2007 with the Sunday Times, he said that it’s “kind of creepy that many people seen me naked…I feel like the world’s biggest pornstar”. However, he has also stated that he found it kinda cool.
Elden has been on the fence about how he truly feels for this, so these feelings did not come out of nowhere.
In this lawsuit, Elden alleges that his “identity and legal name are forever tied to the commercial sexual exploitation he experienced as a minor, which has been distributed worldwide from the time he was a baby to present”. The claim also continues to say that the defendants “knowingly produced, possessed, and advertised commercial child pornography depicting Spencer, and they knowingly received value in exchange for doing so…Despite this knowledge, defendants failed to take reasonable steps to protect Spencer and prevent his widespread sexual exploitation and image trafficking”. It is also stating that the image is displaying Spencer as a “sex worker grabbing for a dollar bill”. There are also some explanations of why it can still be considered to violate federal child pornography laws and it is the fact that this album is still being sold and people are still earning money for it.
However, under U.S Law, photos are infants are not considered child pornography if they are non-sexualized. This photo is not sexualized, which is more than likely going to be the strongest argument against this case. There are also the facts that Spencer Elden does not have royalties for the photo; his parents got $200 for it and that was it. Elden does deserve money for the photo, for being in the creation for it. To call this sexual exploitation feels a bit of a stretch and seems to be changing the focus from those who happen to suffer from child pornography at a greater severity Spencer Elden.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nirvana-baby-spencer-elden-nevermind-sue-child-porn/
Entertainment-music-arts-and-entertainment-ceaf0ebec62b1eb3f600edf914849ab9
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