Thursday, July 12 12:00-1:00 Censorship and the Female Artist — Attacks on women’s speech are on the rise in the current cultural climate in realms including politics and pop culture. This panel examines how censorship affects women artists, in realms…
CBLDF is committed to supporting the comics community. Fill out our form to request assistance or report censorship today!
CBLDF is committed to supporting the comics community. Fill out our form to request assistance or report censorship today!
SDCC: CBLDF Convention Kit FREE For All Members!
Are you a CBLDF member? Do you attend conventions, and are tired of the standard badge and lanyard combo? Do you wish you had more “flair” to show everyone that you support free speech? Do you find yourself pen free…
SDCC: CBLDF’s Comic-Con Welcome Party!
Kick off Comic-Con with the greatest stars in comics to celebrate 20 Years of Image Comics and the power of free expression at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s Comic-Con Welcome Party! Starting at 8:00 PM on Thursday, July 12…
ERROR 451: This Page Has Been Burned
It’s just another average day of internet browsing. You’re doing your thing, checking the news, maybe taking a detour to your favorite webcomic. Then, WHAM (or rather, the internet version of said sound effect). ERROR 451. What happened? Did the…
Animated Parody Removed from Canadian Newspaper Website
A Canadian political cartoonist who works for the Vancouver Province newspaper says that his animated parody of oil pipeline company Enbridge’s ads was removed from the newspaper’s website, apparently due to pressure from the corporation. According to a blog post…
British Government Considering ISP Censorship Mandates
Is it the job of the British government to legislate ISP-level censorship of adult content? On the heels of an April parliamentary inquiry, Prime Minister David Cameron seems to be giving the question a disconcerting amount of consideration, at the…
New Arizona Law: Schools and Libraries Comply or Lose Funding
Public schools and libraries in Arizona will be at the mercy of a new law, effective August 1, that requires the institutions to block “obscene” materials on the internet or they will lose 10 percent of their funding, according to…
A History of Censorship: Richard Felton Outcalt and The Yellow Kid
Many people know about the great comic book scare in the late ’40s and early ’50s. You know the one that started with individuals like Dr. Fredric Wertham and Senator Robert C. Hendrickson and ended with the creation of the…
TFAW Posts SDCC Auction Images: The Marvel Edition!
For the past three years, Things From Another World has played a pivotal role in collecting original artwork for CBLDF’s annual Comic-Con International charity auction, helping the Fund raise more than $75,000 in the process. If you head over to their blog, they posted The Marvel Edition of the auction preview: six amazing pieces of art featuring some of our favorite Marvel characters, from Black Widow to Thor. The pieces are by Cat Farris, Francesco Francavilla, Jeffrey Brown, Natalie Nourigat, Patric Reynolds, and Rahsan Ekedal, and they will be auctioned off Saturday, July 14, in room Sapphire AB at the Hilton Bayfront, starting at 8:00 p.m. All proceeds benefit the important First Amendment work of CBLDF!
The image you see here is just a teaser! You can view the rest of the images here. If you’re curious about who’s donated to the auction so far, you can view the list and see their pieces here.
Please help support CBLDF’s important First Amendment work by making a donation or becoming a member of the CBLDF!
CBLDF Contributes Additional $10,000 to Ryan Matheson’s $75,000 Legal Defense Costs Thanks To Donors!
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is pleased to announce that thanks to the support of its contributors, the organization has disbursed an additional $10,000 to Ryan Matheson to help pay off the $75,000 legal defense costs that he incurred defending himself against false charges brought by Canada Customs in a case involving manga comics on his laptop computer.
Earlier this year, charges against Matheson were dropped in a case where Canada Customs illegally detained and wrongly charged the American with importation of child pornography for humor and fantasy manga on his laptop. The CBLDF came to Ryan’s aid in 2011, providing substantive and financial support for his case, including arranging expert testimony that contributed to the charges being dropped. With this most recent disbursal, the CBLDF has provided $30,000 to Ryan’s $75,000 legal defense costs. Last year, Canada’s Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund contributed $11,000 towards Ryan’s defense. CBLDF seeks contributions to help pay off Ryan’s remaining $34,000 in legal expenses.
In a message to CBLDF supporters, Matheson says, “Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to the CBLDF! The donations raised so far have given me enough financial stability to finally get back on my feet and live my life normally instead of worrying about money so much. It’s really encouraging to know that there are so many people out there that want to help stand up for comics and manga. I used to feel so isolated and alone but now I’ve realized that the comics and manga community is definitely one that cares about the things we love and is willing to stand up for our rights. Your donations really do help a lot and I am so grateful for all the support I’ve received so far. Thank you!”
This summer, Matheson will be appearing on panels at San Diego Comic-Con and Otakon to discuss his case, where CBLDF will also be distributing literature advising convention goers of their rights.
Please make a donation to CBLDF to help the organization continue to pay off Matheson’s legal defense costs and to support their important work raising awareness of the rights facing comics and manga readers. To learn more about Ryan’s case, please visit the CBLDF Case File R. v. Matheson, which includes the original defense documents, and special advisories for travelers crossing borders with comics books.
CBLDF Applauds Supreme Court’s Defense of Free Speech In Rejecting “Stolen Valor” Act
The Supreme Court today held that the Stolen Valor Act, a federal law that makes it a crime to lie about having received military honors, violates the free speech protections of the First Amendment.
“Fundamental constitutional principles require that laws enacted to honor the brave must be consistent with the precepts of the Constitution for which they fought,” Justice Kennedy wrote in a plurality decision.
Earlier this year, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund signed onto a friend-of-the-court brief filed in the case by Media Coalition, a trade association that defends the First Amendment rights of mainstream media. The brief argued that while defamation and fraud are recognized historic exceptions to the First Amendment, there has never been an exception for false speech. In his opinion, Justice Kennedy wrote, “The Court has never endorsed the categorical rule the Government advances: that false statements receive no First Amendment protection. Our prior decisions have not confronted a measure, like the Stolen Valor Act, that targets falsity and nothing more.”
LGBT Characters and the Comics Code Authority
The last decade has seen a spate of LGBT characters introduced, ‘outed,’ or united in marriage with same-sex partners in mainstream comics. Unfortunately, these LGBT storylines have drawn criticism and calls for censorship from some quarters, particularly the group One Million Moms, a subsidiary of the American Family Association. The moms have pressured retailer Toys ‘R’ Us not to stock the Life With Archie issue featuring Kevin Keller’s wedding, and later blacklisted both DC and Marvel for “placing these gay characters on pedestals in a positive light,” according to a post from ICv2. But as Alan Kistler points out in an extensive post for Comic Book Resources, LGBT characters and themes have a long history in comics, despite the self-censorship that ruled the industry for decades. CBLDF blogger Maren Williams takes a look at Kistler’s article after the jump.
New Hampshire Senate Fails to Override Governor’s Veto of S.B. 175
On June 12, 2012, New Hampshire Governor John Lynch vetoed S.B. 175, a senate bill that would have made it illegal to use an individual’s likeness for 70 years after his or her death. This week, the New Hampshire Senate voted on the bill again in an attempt to override the governor’s veto. Only 13 of the 16 votes needed to override the veto were obtained, so the veto was upheld.
More after the jump…
Chopped By The Cleaver: One Cartoonist’s Contributions to Libyan Revolution
by Joe Izenman
Freedom of speech is easy to take for granted in the United States. For all the effort we must spend protecting expression in some areas, political cartooning and the ability to poke fun at our own government officials are an accepted fact of life.
So it is easy to forget that even these seemingly basic freedoms — such as the ability to draw a caricature or to create a mocking internet meme out of your head of state — can be a truly remarkable and powerful tool in a dictatorial state. In a recent profile Chris York wrote for Huffington Post UK, longtime Libyan exile and cartoonist Hasan Dhaimish — also known as Alsature, or The Cleaver — talks about the life that led him to a career of political irreverence. Click through for excerpts from the article…
In Defense of Alan Moore’s NEONOMICON, NCAC Reminds People That Comic Books Are Not Just For Kids
by Mark Bousquet
While the National Coalition Against Censorship’s recent headline, “Graphic Novels and Comic Books, They’re Not Just for Kids” feels anachronistic to fans of the medium, a recent complaint filed against Alan Moore’s Neonomicon (Avatar Press) at a public library in Greenville, South Carolina, reminds us that such reminders are still needed. Despite Neonomicon being correctly shelved in the adult section of the library, a patron recently filed an official challenge against the book after it was checked out of the library by her 14-year old daughter, even though her daughter had both a library card that allowed her access to the library’s adult material and her mother’s permission to take the book home. At the heart of the mother’s complaint is the common misconception that graphic novels and comic books are a medium only for children.
More after the jump…