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The cover of the 1991 album Nevermind by Nirvana features a nude baby swimming toward a dollar bill dangling from a fishing line. The gentleman who was the subject of the photo is now suing seventeen defendants for $150,000 each over the photo. He alleges the photo constitutes child pornography. This is clearly a money grab. Depending on the version of the news story that I read, the plaintiff's family was offered either no compensation for the photo or $200. Regardless, it is a bit scary that the photo could be construed as child pornography. From what I understand about the federal statute, a photo does not need to show actual sexual activity to constitute child pornography. It only needs to be sexually suggestive. This criteria is totally ambiguous. It depends on a personal evaluation that would vary dramatically from one person to the next. The album sold 30 million copies. The implication is that 30 million people have child pornography in their record collections. This has me worried about the baptismal photos of my infant daughter. I am including a censored version of the album cover below.
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This sounds like a frivolous lawsuit. He is disgruntled and is just trying to get money. One issue he has is that he has lost jobs and income due to the publicity, but it was publicity he himself willingly participated in by recreating the image, albeit clothed, as well as having Nevermind tattooed on his chest. He also has tried to get Nirvana to participate in an art show he was putting on, but they have been giving him the run-around.
He also is saying his legal guardians never signed permission to use his image, which should be easily proven or disproven. Ultimately, his argument about this being child pornography will likely go nowhere. There is nothing that shows anything sexual in the picture.
Bob S.
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