#Nirvana nevermind cover sue full

In that same interview, Elden discussed the negative aspects of the notoriety, too. Why am I still on their cover if I’m not that big of a deal?” “I was getting referred to their managers and their lawyers. “I was asking if they wanted to put a piece of art in the fucking thing,” he said. In a 2016 interview with GQ Australia, Elden said his stance on the photograph changed after he reached out to Nirvana to see if the band would participate in an art show he was putting on. However, his enthusiasm appears to have waned in recent years. He has the word “nevermind” tattooed on his chest. As a young man, he re-created the pool scene on numerous occasions, including for the album’s 10th, 15th, and 25th anniversaries. His lawyer did not immediately respond to Artnet News’s request for comment, nor did representatives for the band.Įlden, now 30 and an artist himself, has had a complicated relationship with the Nirvana cover, among the most recognizable in all of popular music. The defendant is seeking damages, attorney fees, and a jury trial. Courtesy of Geffen Records.Īmong those named in the suit are two surviving former members of Nirvana, drummer Dave Grohl and bassist Krist Novoselic the overseers of deceased frontman Kurt Cobain’s estate, including Courtney Love the photographer who took the image, Kirk Weddle as well as several record companies associated with the album. The album cover, shot by Kirk Weddle, features Spencer Elden. Elden’s complaint points this out and suggests it proves the band made a deliberate decision to go in a different direction artistically.īut Nirvana’s lawyers have some strong points against Elden, using the fact that he had been somewhat celebratory about the cover, recreating the image as an adult (although with clothes on) for the album’s 10th, 17th, 20th, and 25th anniversaries and selling autographed copies of the cover.Īdditionally, they also argued too much time had passed for Elden to sue.Nirvana’s 1991 album, Nevermind.

The mock-up has a different naked baby in a pose that doesn’t show any genitalia. 21, attaches artwork purported to be Fisher’s original mock-up of the cover using a stock image.

#Nirvana nevermind cover sue full

The fact that the album designer Robert Fisher recalled how the band had discussed back then the problem of a baby’s genitals being on full display, has also been an influential part of the amended complaint: “ I go to a baseball game and think about it: ‘Man, everybody at this baseball game has probably seen my little baby penis.’ I feel like I got part of my human rights revoked.” “It’s hard not to get upset when you hear how much money was involved,” he said. “I’m living in my mum’s house and driving a Honda Civic. “Everyone involved in the album has tons and tons of money,” he said. However, Elden is sticking to his claims that “ intentionally commercially marketed the child pornography depicting Spencer and leveraged the lascivious nature of his image to promote the Nevermind album, the band, and Nirvana’s music, while earning, at a minimum, tens of millions of dollars in the aggregate.” In his new filing, Elden, now 30, drops his claim related to sex trafficking after Nirvana’s lawyers argued the alleged trafficking of Elden occurred before lawmakers made it possible for victims to sue using the federal sex-trafficking-of-children statute. Image: Instagram / battle is not over, though, as Elden put out his second amended complaint late on Wednesday: