Mark Savage, BBC:

Spencer Elden, the man who was photographed as a baby on the album cover for Nirvana’s Nevermind, is suing the band alleging sexual exploitation.

The cover depicts Elden as a four-month-old in a swimming pool, grasping for a dollar bill that’s being dangled in front of him on a fishing line.

Now 30, Elden says his parents never signed a release authorising the use of his image on the album. He also alleges the nude image constitutes child pornography.

A lot to unpack here but, at its core, lies the issue of parents never signing a release for the photo. I find that incredibly hard to believe.

From this backgrounder on the photo shoot:

Unable to find a stock shot of a submarine tyke, Fisher hired underwater-photo specialist Weddle, who donned a wet suit and set up a studio (complete with lights and waterproof cameras) in an Olympic-size swimming pool in Los Angeles last May. Spencer wasn’t the lone stunt baby: Weddle cast four other infants as well. “You need that many kids,” he says, “because you can’t count on a baby to do anything you want.”

And:

Later, the fishhook was stripped into the photo at Cobain’s direction.

And:

For his skinny-dipping adventure, Spencer was paid $250 (standard hourly rate for a no-name model) and was later presented with a triple-platinum album by Ed Rosenblatt, president of Geffen Records.

Sounds like his parents cashed the check.