Dentons will provide pro bono assistance and advisory to Jerzy Owsiak, a Polish journalist, social campaigner, and organizer of cultural events, in a freedom of artistic expression case involving his use of profanity in a quotation at a recent book reading.
Dentons reports that it "will argue that artistic messages and performances ought to be accorded a wider margin of protection under the freedom of expression and must not be censored through the application of subjective criteria." According to the firm, “therefore, Mr. Owsiak’s words should be treated as part of an artistic performance, which is protected by the freedom of expression."
“In his famous 1966 speech on freedom of art, the Nobel prize-winning author Heinrich Boll explored the relationship between freedom of art and reactions by public authorities and concluded that, ‘no state, no city, no community may be permitted to define what freedom is, as freedom is a natural condition’,” said Dentons Managing Partner Arkadiusz Krasnodebski. “We subscribe to this view and wish to stand up for freedom of speech and freedom to access art and information in an uncensored form.”
Image Source: se.pl
