In Canada, as in the U.S., battles over controversial images have often been waged with the definition of the term “artistic merit” at the center. Now, a bill is being debated in the Canadian Parliament which would remove the “artistic merit” defense from the federal law banning child pornography, in favor of a requirement that an artwork be proven to be a “public good.” Kate Taylor says the change would have a crippling effect on Canadian art and freedom. “The artistic-merit defence can at least be argued by bringing artistic peers, critics and academics into court, but how do you prove the public good of an individual art work — no matter how much you might believe in the public good of art in general?”