The surviving members of Nirvana and the estate of Kurt Cobain are being sued by the baby who appeared on their Nevermind album cover, claiming the image constitutes child pornography.

Spencer Elden, now 30, appeared on the cover of the iconic 1991 album as a four-month-old baby swimming in a pool towards a dollar bill hanging from a hook.

He filed a complaint on Tuesday with the Central District of California U.S. District Court, alleging that the image – which exposed his genitals – constituted child pornography.

“The defendants intentionally marketed Spencer’s child pornography and took advantage of the shocking nature of his image to promote themselves and their music at his expense,” said the lawsuit, reports Variety. “The defendants used child pornography depicting Spencer as an essential part of a record promotion program commonly used in the music industry to attract attention, in which album covers posed children in such a way. sexually provocative to gain notoriety, boost sales and gain media attention, and critical comments. “

Elden is asking at least $ 150,000 (£ 109,000) from each of the defendants – surviving group members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic; Courtney Love, widow of Cobain and executor of her estate; Guy Oseary and Heather Parry, managers of the Cobain estate; photographer Kirk Weddle; artistic director Robert Fisher; and the record companies involved in the release. Original drummer Chad Channing is also listed as an accused, although he left the group in 1990.

“Weddle took a series of sexually graphic nude photographs of Spencer,” the record continues. “At least one or more film cartridges were exposed over a short period of time, which included at least 40 or 50 different images of Spencer. Cobain chose the image depicting Spencer – as a sex worker – in the process of grab a dollar bill that is hanging from a hook in front of his naked body with his penis explicitly displayed. “

Elden, who has recreated the pose several times over the past three decades, with clothes on, also claims he was never compensated for the photo other than the $ 200 (£ 145) his parents received on day of the shoot. The lawsuit also claims that neither Elden nor his parents signed any documents authorizing the use of the image.

Representatives of the defendants have yet to comment on the lawsuit.