Miscellaneous
From "Slippery Slope w/ Macy Ramos" Why The Baby On Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ Album Is Suing Now Spencer Elden was 4 months-old when he was photographed by family friend, and photographer Kirk Weedle, in 1991 drifting naked in a pool. The now iconic photo would be used for the cover of ‘Nevermind’; Nirvana’s seminal second album that helped define Generation X and rocketed the Seattle band to international fame. In the decades that followed, Spencer appeared to celebrate his part in the classic cover, recreating the moment, non-nude, for the albums 10th, 17th, 20th and 25th anniversaries. In a 2016 interview Spencer stated: “It’s cool but weird to be a part of something so important that I don’t even remember.” Now, 30-years-old, Spencer has filed a federal lawsuit against the estate of Kurt Cobain, the musician’s former bandmates, David Grohl and Krist Novoselic, and Cobain’s widow, Courtney Love, among other parties. He claimed they, along with Geffen Records, which released ‘Nevermind’, profited from his naked image. According to the lawsuit: “Defendants knowling produced, possessed and advertised commercial child pornography depicting Spencer and they knowingly received valued in exchange for doing so. Mr. Elden, Spencer, suffered permanent harm because of his association with the album, including emotional distress and a lifelong loss of income-earning capacity.” Spencer’s lawyer, Maggie Mabie, stated: “He hasn’t met anyone who hasn’t seen his genitalia. It’s a constant reminder that he has no privacy. His privacy is worthless to the world. They were trying to create controversy because controversy sells. The point was not just to create a menacing image, but to cross the line and they did so in a way that exposed Spencer...” Mabie said her client agreed when the band, media outlets and fans asked him to recreate the photo as an adult, but he eventually realized that this only resulted in the image being further exploited. Even though Spencer said in a 2015 documentary that the album cover “opened doors” for him; over the years he has expressed ambivalence about the cover. Spencer sated: “It’s be nice to have a quarter for every person that has seen my baby penis.” Spencer said his feelings about the cover began to change when he tried reaching out to the former band about being a part of his art show and was turned away by managers and lawyers. Mabie, Spencer’s lawyer, said his parents never authorized consent for how the images would be used and noted that Cobain, former lead singer of Nirvana, once suggested putting a sticker over the baby’s genitals after there was pushback to the covers idea. Mary Graw Leary, a professor at the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America, stated that this lawsuit was not a typical child pornography case: “Nudity of a child alone is not the definition of pornography. The typical child pornography that is being seen in law enforcement and pursued in the courts can be violent. The children are young and it is very graphic. But there are factors under federal law that allow a judge or a jury to determine whether a photo of a minor constitutes a lascivious exhibition of the genitals, including if they were the focal point of a photo. That part of the law gives a bit more discretion to the court. It’s not a case with easy answers.” Spencer’s past comments about the cover should not undermine his current claim that he was a victim of child pornography. The law does not pick between children who immediately denounce their abusers and children who initially were dismissive about what happened to them. Professor Graw Leary continued: “We don’t want to be in a position where we’re only going to consider one case criminal because in the other, the child didn’t think it was a big deal at the time. We don’t only protect certain kids.” "Slippery Slope" Full Episode Spotify: https://spoti.fi/398bcEL Apple: https://apple.co/3AeM9Mh PodBean: https://bit.ly/3nxDFfG