The man who, as an infant, was featured on the cover of Nirvana's "Nevermind" album, is filing charges against the rock band for child porn.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, Spencer Elden, now 30, claims Nirvana violated federal child pornography laws and allegations his parents never signed a release giving authority to the band to use the photo.
Included in the lawsuit are Kurt Cobain's estate and the gunge pioneer's surviving members, claiming Nirvana "sexually exploited" him.
According to Elden, the photograph of him as a baby swimming underwater naked in a pool and used by the band on their album cover was child porn, and that he could not give his consent to his image being used.
It has generally been understood that Elden's image was a statement on capitalism, as it includes a dollar bill on a fishhook that the infant appears to be swimming toward, Variety said.
Under U.S. law, non-sexualized naked images of infants are not considered child pornography. Elden's attorney claims the inclusion of currency makes the naked baby Elden look like "a sex worker."
Elden was four months old when the photoshoot was made in 1991. He said he has suffered "lifelong damage" from having his naked image plastered on Nirvana's album.
Elden also claims his identity and legal name are "forever tied to the sexual exploitation" he experienced as a minor. He is seeking at least $150,000 from each member of the band.
According to the suit, the band members had full knowledge in the production, ownership, and advertising commercial child porn depicting Spencer, "and they knowingly received value in exchange for doing so."
Elden said he was never paid for the image beyond the $200 that his mom and dad were compensated for it on the day of the photo shoot.
"Man, everybody has probably seen my little baby penis, I feel like I got part of my human rights revoked," Elden was quoted by The Week as saying.
The lawsuit also names Nirvana's art director Robert Fisher, Heather Parry and producer Guy Oseary, including the labels responsible for distributing the album.
