Report Censorship

CBLDF is committed to supporting the comics community. Fill out our form to request assistance or report censorship today!

Report Censorship

CBLDF is committed to supporting the comics community. Fill out our form to request assistance or report censorship today!

Cryptozoic Entertainment Launches Free Digital Comics App, Benefitting CBLDF

We first teamed up with Cryptozoic Entertainment to create the CBLDF Liberty Trading Cards, with proceeds going to the Fund. We’re taking a second step in our partnership and our shared dedication to Free Speech as Cryptozoic enters the world of digital publishing. Cryptozoic has launched a comic reader with top-quality content for the iPad™, iPhone™, and iPod Touch™, with a percentage of the profits dedicated to benefit CBLDF.

To celebrate the exclusive release of Blizzard™ manga on the Cryptozoic Comics app, Cryptozoic is offering a free download of the full 160-page manga, Warcraft: Legends Vol. 1, for the first week of its release (through June 2nd)!

CBLDF Congratulates Christopher M. Finan, Recipient of the 2011 FTRF Roll of Honor Award!

CBLDF is delighted to congratulate Christopher M. Finan, president of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) and friend of the Fund, for winning the 2011 Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) Roll of Honor Award!

As president of ABFFE, Finan helps defend the First Amendment rights of booksellers and their customers. His activism on behalf of Free Speech is further solidified by his longtime involvement with the Media Coalition, which defends the right to produce, sell, and have access to print and digital entertainment, and the National Coalition Against Censorship. Like CBLDF, targets of Finan’s activism include the “harmful to minors” statutes that would curtail creative free expression.

Larry Marder’s CBLDF Liberty Cards Diary #4

Today is the last day to preorder the CBLDF Liberty Trading Cards in Previews! Retailers and Fans, please order generously!

Here’s the order info:

MAY111393 I CBLDF LIBERTY T/C BOXMAY111393 I CBLDF LIBERTY T/C BOX
Previews,
page 360
The Previews ad is on page 359

We’re very lucky to have such great partners with Cryptozoic Entertainment. We at CBLDF hope that you will support our collective efforts to raise funds to that allows CBLDF to continue our mission protecting the First Amendment rights of the entire comic book community. Never forget: We’ll be there for you when you need us.

***

Hello again.

As everyone already knows, Stan Sakai is the incredibly talented creator of Usagi Yojimbo. Every time I go into a comic book store or a public library, I’m quite blown away by just how many Usagi Yojimbo comics, trade paperbacks and monthly comics Stan has produced since 1987.

CBLDF General Counsel Robert Corn-Revere Discusses the High Value of Low Speech

In 2010, Robert Corn-Revere joined the team at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund as General Counsel. As a staunch supporter of Free Speech, Corn-Revere is the comics community’s ultimate line of defense when it comes to First Amendment challenges.

Reason TV recently posted an informative and entertaining video, during which Corn-Revere discussed the First Amendment protections for unpopular speech. Among the topics Corn-Revere hits are decisions regarding Westboro Baptist Church, Lenny Bruce’s pardon, and Schwarzennegger v. EMA, a case for which CBLDF filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court.

Check out the video of Corn-Revere’s impassioned defense of the First Amendment! (Corn-Revere discusses Schwarzennegger v. EMA at 27:18.)

Larry Marder’s CBLDF Liberty Cards Diary #3

One day towards the end of the summer of last year, not long after I was voted by the Board of Comic Book Legal Defense Fund to be its next President, I was shooting the breeze with John Nee, the CEO of Cryptozoic Entertainment in Irvine, California, in his office. In walked Cory Jones, President & Chief Creative Officer, and Scott Gaeta, COO. They had an interesting proposal for CBLDF:

A set of CBLDF trading cards.

The First Amendment Center Discusses the First Amendment and Secondary Education

As many teenagers will tell you, they simply want to be able to freely express themselves. The application of the free speech provisions of the First Amendment during secondary education presents an interesting conundrum: balancing students’ desire for free expression with the need to maintain an effective educational environment. Often, legal decisions regarding free speech in secondary school publications align with the latter, giving secondary students somewhat diminished First Amendment rights.

CBLDF Invites You to the 2011 BOOK EXPO AMERICA MEMBER PARTY!

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is having a membership party to kick off Book Expo America, and we want you to be a part of it! Sponsored by IDW, the CBLDF Book Expo Welcome Mixer happens this Tuesday, May 24!

The CBLDF is inviting the book industry out for a welcome mixer on Tuesday, May 24, 2011. Publishing professionals, booksellers, librarians, and creators are all invited to kick off BEA. The party is free for all BEA attendees and NYC comics and book professionals and retailers!

Transmetropolitan: All Around The World Now Available to Order

Transmetropolitan: All Around The World — the most hotly-anticipated art book of the year — is now available for order from the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund!

Celebrating Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson’s dystopian classic, all proceeds from the sale of Transmetropolitan: All Around The World benefit the First Amendment work of CBLDF. Transmetropolitan combined black humor, political scandal, and moral ambiguity to look into the mind of gonzo journalist Spider Jerusalem and The City he inhabits. Aided by his embattled Editor and his two Filthy Assistants, Jerusalem blazes a path through a futuristic world of skyscrapers and technological wonders, dark alleys, and unspeakable depravity.

Transmetropolitan: All Around The World is a lovingly crafted and designed tribute to a seminal work. Contributors include:

Aaron Alexovich, Stephanie Buscema, Jim Calafiore, Stefano Caselli, Cliff Chiang, Richard C. Clark, Kevin Colden, Molly Crabapple, Camilla d’Errico, Kristian Donaldson, Ryan Dunlavey, Gary Erskine, Richard Friend, Dan Goldman, Cully Hamner, Lea Hernandez, Phil Hester, Rantz Hoseley, Matt Howarth, K Thor Jensen, Seth Kushner, Jonathan Luna, Milo Manara, John McCrea, Moritat, Dean Motter, Darick Robertson, Jimmie Robinson, Stuart Sayger, Tim Seeley, Fiona Staples, Bryan Talbot, Pete Woods, and many, many others.

Only a limited number of copies are available, so place your orders now!

The Good Fighters: Molly Crabapple

A fine artist and the founder of Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School, Molly Crabapple creates work that provokes desire in some and the urge to silence in others. Her work also openly embraces sexuality, influenced by her experience as a model and burlesque dancer, which often brings her into opposition with censorship. Thus, she’s become an eloquent and devout supporter of free expression.

With Crabapple’s recent donation to CBLDF of an intricately-detailed 8′ by 7′ art monster — you can bid on it here — we took a moment to chat with her for this edition of The Good Fighters.

Comics Alliance: Why Comics Get Confiscated & How to Protect Yours

Laura Hudson at Comics Alliance dug into the recent seizures of comics at the Canadian Border, speaking to CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein and Tom Neely about the incidents, and sorting through “Canadian customs documentation to get the details on how this happened, the measures you can take to protect yourself and your comics when you’re crossing the border, the concerns this raises for comics fans, and a list of things that may get your comics flagged as obscene and confiscated (or worse).” It’s a terrific summary that presents a concise overview of the complex issue, and provides some excellent, plainspoken pointers about how to protect yourself and your comics. Read the full story here.

Please support the CBLDF’s coverage and defense of free speech issues like this by making a donation today!

How to Keep Customs From Seizing Your Comics

The crew over at Gamma Squad took a moment to touch base with CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein about the latest comic book seizures by Canada Customs and to outline some tips for protecting yourself when crossing the border. Brownstein talks about why books are seized:

“It’s always hard to say why customs agents seize the work that they do, because oftentimes the determinations made are subjective,” said Charles Brownstein, Executive Director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. “I don’t second guess the motives of customs authorities. In 2004 a customs agent in South Carolina seized a shipment of books that included a strip satirizing the Bush administration called “Richie Bush,” because the agent alleged the parody comic was ripping off the Richie Rich trademark. All kinds of content has been seized, and is at risk.”

Check out the full article here.