The legal mess behind the die-cut cover of The Rolling Stones’ ‘Some Girls’

The cover of Some Girls was a gimmick that almost cost The Rolling Stones a fortune. Designed by Peter Corriston, the sleeve featured die-cut holes that revealed different women’s faces printed on the inner sleeve — you could slide the inner sleeve around to mix and match the faces with different hairstyles and hats. It was playful, but the Stones forgot to ask permission from the women whose photos they used.

Among the faces were Lucille Ball, Farrah Fawcett, Raquel Welch, and even the late Judy Garland. Their lawyers pounced. The band settled out of court for undisclosed sums and rushed to reissue the cover, cutting out the celebrity faces and replacing them with generic mannequins. That’s why original pressings with the full set of stars go for hundreds of dollars today — it’s a lawsuit you can hold in your hands.