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Special effects filmmaker Remy Couture speaks outside the Montreal courthouse in Montreal, Wednesday, October 13, 2010.Graham Hughes

A Quebec special-effects artist charged with corrupting morals will have to wait until the end of the year to go to trial.

Remy Couture has been awaiting trial on three charges stemming from short horror films he created about an imaginary mass-killer.

He says that even if some people might consider his work to be too gory, that doesn't make it illegal. He says the state has no business determining what qualifies as art and what doesn't.

Couture and his lawyers say the case is believed to be the first time such a charge has been laid against works related to the horror industry.

He has pleaded not guilty to three charges moral corruption and distributing obscene material.

A jury trial was scheduled today for December — more than three years after his arrest around Halloween, 2009.

Even though it has cost him tens of thousands in legal fees, Couture says his fight — to prove that art is not a crime — is more important than money.

The freelance special-effects artist says the short films, posted on his website, had warnings about content.

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