Last week, Hollywood's legal troubles took a drastic turn from the usual DUI to a question that is making a lot of celebrities very uncomfortable: does a person's artistic record put him above the law?Obviously, the answer is no-as director Roman Polanski learned when he was arrested at the Zurich Film Festival in Switzerland on the basis of a 1978 arrest warrant.

In 1977, Polanski pled guilty to the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl. Polanski, now 76, left the U.S. before his sentencing and is considered a fugitive here. In recent years, he has tried to have the rape case dismissed, claiming the judge, who is now dead, arranged a plea bargain but later reneged. Polanski has been to Switzerland before, but this time U.S. authorities knew of his trip in advance. That gave them time to send an arrest warrant to Swiss authorities, judicial officials said.

Zurich Film Festival jury president Debra Winger demanded Polanski's release from jail. "We hope today this latest [arrest] order will be dropped. It is based on a three-decades-old case that is dead but for minor technicalities," she said. "We came to Zurich to honor Roman Polanski as a great artist, but under these sad and arcane circumstances we can only think of him today as a human being uncertain of the year ahead."

Hollywood celebrities have rallied around Polanski, starting a "Free Polanski" petition. Signers include Woody Allen, Diane von Furstenberg, Wes Anderson and hundreds more. The backlash has been immediate, calling the signers "rape defenders," and many online communities have started petitions to boycott Polanski's work.

Samantha Geimer, who identified herself as Polanski's victim long ago, is asking that the case be dismissed. If Polanski is brought to an American court, Geimer, who now lives with her husband in Hawaii, cannot be forced to testify. What she really wants, she says, is for the case to be over. She has already sued Polanski and reached an undisclosed settlement.

Whether Polanski will be tried or not, the entire affair brings up a scary question-do people really think that a person's artistic achievements excuse him from the consequences of his actions? Hopefully not-but this case is still unfolding.