Legal Experts React to Nirvana Child Pornography Lawsuit - Does Spencer Elden Have a Case?

Earlier this week, a lawsuit was filed against the band Nirvana by the man who was photographed as a baby on the Nevermind album cover.

Spencer Elden says that he is the baby featured in the artwork, in which a naked baby is seen underwater in a pool and swimming toward a dollar bill on a fishhook.

The now 30-year-old man is claiming that his nude image on the album cover constitutes child pornography. He says the image depicts him “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.” He also claims that his legal guardians didn’t sign a release to authorize Nirvana‘s use of the images from the shoot.

Click inside to find out what legal experts are saying about the lawsuit…

Legal experts are now reacting to the lawsuit and are revealing if Spencer has a case.

Entertainment litigator Bryan Sullivan told THR that the lawsuit is “ridiculous.”

“I think it is highly unlikely that a record company would use a photograph for an album cover without verifying the existence of a release signed by the parents,” he said. “But, if is there is no release, it does not mean he has a claim for child pornography. As to the right of privacy, you can waive it by your actions or by his parents’ actions in allowing him to be photographed.”

Another entertainment litigator, who often works with plaintiffs, agrees that this will be a tough battle for Elden.

“Depending on which federal judge this case is assigned to downtown, plaintiff’s counsel is likely going to be in for a very rough ride. Sanctions are a definite possibility,” the lawyer said. “I think what will be most troubling for any judge will be the amount of time that has elapsed since the photo was published, the fact the kid’s parents did this knowingly (more or less, but they knew the naked baby was being photographed), and the numerous times that the plaintiff himself embraced the photo and sought publicity for himself.”