The cover of Snowmind of the Nirvana is not child pornography. To sentence him was an American judge after Spencer Elden, the child portrayed naked on the artwork, had opened a cause about it.
Elden, who at the time appeared on the cover of Snowmind He was four months old, he filed the cause in 2021, at the age of 30. The cause was actually archived in 2022 after Olguin established that Elden had waited too long to intent on a civil case. However, at the end of 2023 a Court of Appeal overturned this decision, allowing Eldin to proceed again.
In a sentence issued at the beginning of this week, judge Fernando M. Olguin said that the photo of Elden who swims behind a banknote from a dollar attached to a fishing hook is not part of what is legally defined as childish pornography. Instead, he compared it to “a family photo of a naked child who baths”, adding that the image was “clearly insufficient to support an accusation”.
As the judge observed, the courts must consider several factors – outlined in the case of the United States against Dost – in judging whether certain visual representations of minors constitute child pornography. Olguin established that, as regards the cover of Snowmind“Neither the installation nor the focal point, nor the setting, nor the general context suggest that the cover of the album present sexually explicit behaviors”.
The judge quoted other relevant factors, including the presence of Elden's parents in the photo shoot and the fact that the photographer, Kirk Weddle, was a dear friend of his. He also said that Elden previously “had accepted and taken financial advantage from being appeared on the album cover”, underlining the times in which he had been “paid to recreate the photo”, sold autographs on posters and other memorabilia, calling himself the “Nirvana child”, tattooed Snowmind On the chest and sent a “thanksgiving postcard with a hand designed by the album cover”.
A Nirvana lawyer issued a statement to Rolling Stone Us <: "We are pleased that the Court has placed an end to this case without foundation and has freed our customers from the stigma of false accusations".
