Year: 2011

40 Years On, One Man’s Vulgarity Is Still Another’s Lyric

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Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision on Cohen v. California — a decision that still shapes how the First Amendment is interpreted and protected today.

The First Amendment Center took a moment to remember the case, which centered on one man’s First Amendment right to protest the Vietnam War by wearing a jacket bearing profane language. In 1968, Paul Robert Cohen was arrested in California for disturbing the peace by offensive conduct. Cohen’s conviction was ultimately overturned by a majority decision in the Supreme Court.

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The Good Fighters: Maggie Roll

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Over the years, CBLDF has been blessed with a varied and devoted cadre of volunteers. Some volunteers have been with us for years, and some, including recent addition Maggie Roll, are just joining the bandwagon.

The CBLDF wouldn’t be what it is without its volunteers, and Roll is no exception. She comes from a family firmly rooted in volunteerism, and she’s always eager to help at the booth, with a ready smile and a joke or two in hand. As a long-time fan of Dr. Who and irreverent comedic scifi by folks like John Scalzi, Roll knows a thing or two about being a nerd.

For this installment of The Good Fighters, we asked Roll about why she became a CBLDF volunteer and her experience as a volunteer.

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CBLDF Joins the Superheroes at HeroesCon!

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Today finds your plucky CBLDF crew headed to Charlotte, North Carolina, for Heroes Convention 2011! For all three days — June 3-5 — you’ll find CBLDF at booth 130/132 with a cornucopia of signed premiums and amazing artists!

Executive Director Charles Brownstein and Development Manager Alex Cox will be on hand with the East Coast premiere of CBLDF’s new “I Read Banned Comics” t-shirt and the CBLDF-exclusive Frank Quitely print and postcard sets (signed, of course!).

You can also expect to find amazing artists hanging out in the CBLDF booth, making art for your donations. So far, we have Becky Cloonan (Demo, American Virgin), Brian Stelfreeze (Domino, Wednesday Comics, Gun Candy), Rebekah Isaacs (Angel & Faith, DV8, Hack/Slash), and Dean Trippe (Project: Rooftop) on deck to sketch. We’re still lining folks up, so be sure to watch this space or run by CBLDF booth 130/132 to get the latest schedule!

Don’t miss CBLDF, at booth 130/132 this weekend at HeroesCon, June 3-5, 2011, at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina!

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Larry Marder’s CBLDF Liberty Cards Diary #6

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It’s a Tyched-out Thursday here at CBLDF.

We’re getting all sorts of multiple card tableaus .In the world of high-brow art these multi-paneled works are called diptychs, triptychs. quadriptychs and so on.

As I’ve said before, I’m well aware of that these connecting subsets of one-of-a-kind sketch cards might drive fans downright batty. But I also know hardcore collectors will be relentless hunters of the individual cards that feature their favorite artists and characters. Hey, the chase of elusive prey is a key part of collecting. We at CBLDF and Cryptozoic Entertainment are just doing our part to keep collecting as challenging and fun as it’s supposed to be.

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Jason “J.Gonzo” Gonzalez Has Some Serious Love for CBLDF at Phoenix Comicon

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Memorial Day has come and gone, and with it, the eleventh iteration of the Phoenix Comicon. Jason Gonzalez, the creator of the lucha libre magnum opus La Mano del Destino, was on hand with his trusty CBLDF donation jar. Every fan who donated got a gorgeous sketch from Gonzalez, who sent us some pics to share.

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Larry Marder’s CBLDF Liberty Cards Diary #5

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To paraphrase what the late Hunter S. Thompson used to write about Rolling Stone magazine deadlines and his portable telex machine: the CBLDF home office mojo wire is starting to hum. I’m late with my diary!

We’re rushing towards all sorts of deadlines.

No.

Let me rephrase that.

The deadlines are hurtling towards us!

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Re-Upped Patriot Act Fails to Protect Reader Privacy

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On a day when we pause to remember and thank the men and women who have helped protect the United States and our rights as citizens, there’s an unfortunate reminder that those rights are not as safe as they should be.

With the re-authorization of USA Patriot Act last week, the safeguards protecting the privacy of bookstore and library records were not restored, a chilling reminder that reader privacy is a risk. Under the current provisions of USA Patriot Act, the government has nearly unlimited power to search bookstore and library records, including those of innocent people.

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Anime North 2011 Panel Discusses Recents Attacks on Manga at Canadian Border

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If you’re in Toronto this weekend, a fan of manga and anime, and looking for some like-minded folks, Canada’s fan-run Anime North kicks off today.

CBLDF may not be there in person, but we’ll be there in spirit on Saturday, when Paul Stockton moderates a panel discussing the recent attacks against manga and comics at the Canadian border. Stockton is the co-founder of Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund, which does what we do in Canada: CLLDF assists retailers, distributors, publishers and creators who run afoul of Canada’s obscenity laws.

Stockton’s panel, tentatively titled Manga Under Attack By The Law, takes place on Saturday, May 28, at 2:00 p.m. You can get more details on site at the convention or from the Anime North website.

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Cryptozoic Entertainment Launches Free Digital Comics App, Benefitting CBLDF

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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)!

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

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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.

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