Figure 1. Nevermind album vinyl record which also features the album cover
Nevermind was the second album by the popular American rock band Nirvana; released on the 24 September 1991. The album was a chartbuster at the time due to its increasing popularity among the youth. The cover of this popular album featured a four-month-old baby, naked in a swimming pool grasping for a dollar bill. Spencer Elden, the baby on the album cover, is suing the band and the record labels 30 years later for alleged child sexual exploitation. He is also seeking for USD 150,000 from each defendant for having knowingly produced, possessed and advertised commercial child pornography. Elden has listed the band members and the record labels- Warner Records and the Universal Music Group as the defendants.
After over 30 years, Elden claims to have suffered lifelong damages due to the presence on the album’s cover. The image exposed Spencer’s genitalia which he claims that the band Nirvana had promised to cover with a sticker, which was never upheld. Despite of acquiring consent from the parents and promising them to hide the genitalia, the non-compliance with the promise made the consent invalid.
Maggie Mabie, Elden’s attorney stated that “when the focus of a photo is directed towards the genitalia of a child, it is deemed to child pornography”. According to Section 2256 of Title 18, The United States Code defines child pornography as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving minors. The Federal Law in the United States prohibits the production, distribution, reception, and possession of an image of child pornography; thus, any individual involved or conspires to commit a child pornography is subject to prosecution under the Federal law.
Figure 2. Elden Spencer was asked to recreate picture wearing boxers for
Multiple occasions such as the 5th,10th and the 25th anniversary of the album.
2011 bore witness to one of the biggest child pornography cases in the USA, two men pleaded guilty for their participation in a pornography network called Dreamboard. In the USA, a person who is convicted for knowingly possessing child pornography can be sentenced up to 10 years in prison and if the minor is below the age of 12, up to 20 years in prison. The law surrounding child pornography concludes that the band Nirvana and the record labels have been indeed involved in child pornography and thus, is subject to the allegations made by the claimant Spencer Elden.
According to the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), the victims depicted in child pornography suffer a lifetime of psychological issues knowing that the image remains on the Internet forever, just as Elden had claimed. The young children who are often exploited in these images live with permanency, longevity and circulation which leads to lifelong psychological damages. With the increasing child sexual exploitation cases across the globe, the United States of America stands in the second position with 23% close behind The Netherlands with an alarming 52% according to the 2019 statistics.
While we wait for the developments in this case and the final judgement, we can only hope for a positive judgement which hopefully will be in the favour of the victim who has been suffering all his life.
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