Nirvana’s critically acclaimed second studio, Nevermind, was released 30 year ago this past September and to commemorate the iconic album, Universal Music Group, planned to re-release the album in the form of eight LP’s and five CD editions. These will include 70 unreleased songs, all while using the controversial original album artwork of naked baby, Spencer Elden.
Elden, now 30-years-old, prepared to sue the grunge pioneers in August of 2021, claiming that Nirvana engaged in, “commercial child pornography” and a “sex trafficking venture” by using four-month-old Eden on the album artwork. Eden’s lawyers also accused Nirvana of violations of federal criminal child pornography statutes.
Elden claims that the group knowingly produced and advertised child pornography and received value, not limited to monetary gain, by using Eden as the album artwork.
Elden also claims that he suffered permanent harm from the album cover and has caused emotional distress, resulting in a lifelong loss of income earning capacity.
Nevermind has sold over 30 million records worldwide, with Elden demanding all the profits from the use of his image.
The lawsuit put a halt to Universal’s plans to release the anniversary edition of Nevermind on time. A mediation between the two parties took place last week. However, the mediation reportedly did not result in a conclusion that satisfied both parties, specifically Elden.
The lawsuit has now been moved to 2022. Universal have opted to release the anniversary edition of Nevermind without waiting for a judgement in a court of law though.
Nevermind’s 30 year anniversary edition began to be shipped in November last week but according to Universal, won’t be mailed to fans until late May of 2022. Therefore, a court ruling in the lawsuit could see Universal forced to no longer use the album artwork of Elden, well after fans have already received the copy of the re-released album using the original artwork.
Should Nirvana be able to use the original artwork for Nevermind? Let us know in the comments below.
Written by Mansour Shukoor
