Lawyers: No reasonable person would consider Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ cover child porn

Spencer Elden, the baby from Nirvana's 'Nevermind' front cover, now a 30-year-old, just like the album, filed a lawsuit alleging that the cover constitutes child pornography. Legally speaking, however, experts who talked to Rolling Stone, say Elden does not have much of a case on his hands. At the core of this knotted web is one thing: Elden’s legal guardian agreed to let a buzzing punk band take photos of him as a baby for 200 bucks. The band’s team asked, and the guardian said yes. “The case is likely going to be dismissed” - says criminal defense attorney Matthew Matejcek of Beles & Beles, pointing to the Department of Justice’s definition of child pornography. “It has to appeal to the viewer’s prurient interest. What’s going to be at issue here is whether this album cover incites the lustful interest, sexual stimulation, or gratification of the viewer. And I think it’s pretty clear that’s not the purpose”. Anne Higonnet in Slate puts some sense into the unpleasant story: "We desperately want to alter the past according to what we sincerely believe right now. I am among those who believe we have a more just vision of society today than we had in 1991. But that doesn’t make me think we can retroactively redo the past. Elden’s feelings about his infant fame in 2021 can’t change what Kurt Cobain meant back in 1991. Let’s change the future instead".