The arrest of U.K. citizen Finley Bowd in Ireland while traveling to a U.S. comic convention – evidently last weekend’s Anime NYC – highlights a major risk noted in our pre-SDCC visas and comic-cons series: the search of phones and…
Anime Arrest
Category: Legal
Visas and Comic-Cons: More Options and Assistance
Heightened visa and immigration enforcement have justifiably raised concerns among international creators and the U.S. comics community alike. Is travel safe? What could lead to detention or denial of entry? Are there options for protecting one’s freedom to create beyond…
Visas and Comic-Cons: Trans Creators and U.S. Travel
We continue to get questions about visa issues, and one that was particularly poignant was whether trans creators would be detained or denied when crossing the border into the U.S. As with the rules on work for tourist and business…
Visas and Comic-Cons: Specific Strategies
This post builds on our previous analysis of the fundamental principles of the visa system with a more detailed examination of how border patrol and ICE officials could perceive specific comic-con activities. Since the tourism visa and ESTA travel for…
Visas and Comic-Cons: Free Speech and Paid Work
Attending a comic-con on a tourist visa or ESTA is a relatively low-risk endeavor for a fan with a hotel room who is just going to enjoy the experience. So long as you limit your activity to seeing panels and…
This Week: Visas and Comic-Cons
Now that convention season is well underway, one of the most frequent questions we’ve been hearing here at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is whether it’s safe for creators from other countries to go to comic-cons in the U.S.…
Texas HB1375 UPDATE
Confirmed! Texas House Bill 1375 will not become law unless it gets attached to a live bill. We’re still watching what happens with House consideration of Senate bills – SB20, which allows for an unconstitutional prosecution for possessing certain cartoons…
Texas HB1375 goes to full House
HB1375, the Texas bill that, if enacted, will authorize filing lawsuits against comic shops for selling graphic novels that anyone finds objectionable, made the House calendar at the last minute. This means that the bill will be considered tomorrow (Thursday,…
Texas HB1375: Legalizing frivolous comic shop lawsuits
UPDATE (May 14): HB1375, the Texas bill that, if enacted, will authorize filing lawsuits against comic shops for selling graphic novels that anyone finds objectionable, made the House calendar at the last minute. This means that the bill will be…
Graphic Novels Restored in Radnor
Earlier this year, a challenge filed against Gender Queer, Fun Home, and Blankets resulted in their removal from the Radnor Township School District high school library in southeast Pennsylvania. Opponents of these graphic novels also filed a police report calling…