Later, as the controversy over the image intensified, Cobain agreed to modify the cover. Cobain, who committed suicide in 1994, added it to make the image 'look more menacing'. There was no actual dollar bill or fishhook in the pool when Mr Elden was photographed. He is seeking compensation for loss of wages, the cost of medical and psychological treatment and loss of enjoyment of life.Īccording to the legal claim, which has been seen by The Telegraph, Cobain chose the image 'depicting Spencer - like a sex worker - grabbing for a dollar bill that is positioned dangling from a fishhook in front of his nude body with his penis explicitly displayed'. Mr Elden is claiming $150,000 damages from each of the defendants plus legal costs.

While his parents received $200 for allowing their baby to pose for the picture, he has never received any payment himself. Mr Elden alleges he has suffered and will continue to suffer personal injury 'by the distribution and possession of child pornography depicting him'. It adds that the defendants 'used child pornography depicting Spencer as an essential element of a record promotion scheme commonly utilised in the music industry to get attention'. It is alleged that they 'intentionally commercially marketed Spencer’s child pornography and leveraged the shocking nature of his image to promote themselves and their music at his expense'. Others include Kurt Kobain’s estate, his widow and estate executor Courtney Love, and several record companies including Universal Music. Now Nirvana and its two surviving members are among 17 defendants listed in a legal claim filed in California. The 1991 album cover famously featured a baby swimming underwater in a pool with his genitalia exposed and seeming to chase a dollar bill attached to a fishhook. Spencer Elden, who as a baby was photographed naked on the cover of Nirvana’s 'Nevermind' album 30 years ago, is seeking damages after alleging he was the victim of child pornography.

Nirvana nevermind cover change