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Re: FW: Censorship issues



As in-house counsel for a large university, I would recommend that the school 
obtain some legal advice here.  If possible liability for displaying a 
pornographic image is the issue, I fail to see how a document signed by a 
student is likely to provide any protection to the school.  

I also disagree that the gallery's refusal to display an image raises any 
"censorship" issues.  Although the artist has the right to create virtually 
any work he wishes, it is the gallery (in this case the school) that has the 
right to select what art it will display.  Every gallery exercises editorial 
control over the works it shows, using a variety of criteria, and no artist 
has either a legal or moral right to demand his or her work be included.  It 
is not "censorship" when a gallery makes this editorial choice; it is merely 
the gallery's exercise of the same right of free expression exercised by the 
artist.  

Finally, if a SF art school is worried about an image creating liability 
problems, it must be a doozy.

Chris Patti