Artistic merit

ARTISTIC merit will no longer be a defence for the use of images of children deemed to be pornographic under the recommendations of a working party set up by the NSW Attorney-General. If the recommendations that John Hatzistergos releases today become law, a person producing, distributing or possessing such material could still argue artistic merit but once the material was ruled to be pornographic the defence would lapse. ''The working party's report suggests that once such material has been found to be unlawfully pornographic, whether or not it is intended to be art, is irrelevant,'' Mr Hatzistergos said..... NSW Council for Civil Liberties president Cameron Murphy said yesterday that removing the artistic merit defence would infringe on genuine artistic endeavour. But Hetty Johnston, a Queensland campaigner on children's rights, said she did not think the proposed legal changes went far enough. ''Consideration of artistic, literary or educational merit will still remain a part of the determination whether a reasonable person in all the circumstances would regard the material as pornographic,'' she said..... www.smh.com.au The group, comprising Department of Public Prosecutions, police and Legal Aid representatives, was instructed to draw a clear line between pornography and art. Its report, delivered to the Government on Friday, recommends art not be a consideration when reviewing images thought to be pornographic..... "The fact that it is art cannot be used as a <b>...</b>