Strippers are artists, court rules
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OSLO, Norway, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Striptease is an art form comparable to ballet and theater, a Norwegian court has ruled, exempting strippers from the country's 25 percent value-added tax.
No longer confined to sleazy clubs, strippers now enjoy an elevated artistic stature akin to that of actors, the appeals court ruled.
The ruling is a victory for strippers of the Diamond Go-Go Bar in Oslo who argued they deserved the same tax-free status as stage performers including standup comics and sword-swallowers, the BBC reported.
The strippers noted tickets for the Chippendales, a male strip act, were exempt from the tax because the act was deemed an artistic performance.
"Striptease, in the way it is practiced in this case, is a form of dance combined with acting," the court ruled, and ordered Norway to pay the club's legal costs, estimated at $27,000.
The government has not decided if it will appeal the decision.
[link to www.upi.com]
2006-12-08
12:17:24
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