On October 12, the Maharashtra state government dropped the sedition charges against cartoonist Aseem Trivedi on advice from the advocate general. Though police were instructed to remove the charge from his case, Trivedi still faces additional charges under the Prevention…
Category: Legal
Be Counted: How Your Membership Makes A Difference
Are you a current member of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund? If you’ve contributed your member dues in 2012, we thank you. If you haven’t renewed or have yet to join, we’re asking you to please Be Counted and…
Missouri Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Obscene Comics
In a press release issued this week, the Department of Justice announced that Christjan Bee, 36, of Monett, Missouri, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge James C. England to possessing obscenity for a collection of comics on his computer. Government…
BE COUNTED: Join The CBLDF Today!
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund needs your support! Our program activity is increasing, and we need your membership contributions this October to help pay for this important work. Comics are threatened more frequently than you may think, and the…
Otaku: Japan’s Favorite Scapegoat — and Tourist Draw
Japan has long had a checkered relationship with its subculture of otaku, a word whose nuances cannot easily be translated to English but which more or less means “geeks whose hobbies border on the fanatic” (Ito). More often than not,…
The Mayor Who Failed to Censor Comics
A historical milepost article on The Columbus Dispatch website, an Ohio-based periodical, revisits September 28, 1954, when the city’s mayor composed a panel to review the censorship of comics. In assembling the panel, Columbus mayor M.E. Sensenbrenner noted that the FBI…
George R.R. Martin Supports CBLDF For Banned Books Week!
George R.R. Martin, the celebrated creator of GAME OF THRONES and WILD CARDS is celebrating Banned Books Week by supporting the important work of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! This is his special message about what he’s doing to…
Banned and Challenged Comics REVEALED!
Banned Books Week is upon us, and it’s telling that the event is more relevant than ever in its 30th year. Given their visual nature and the rampantly held misconception that comic books are for children, comics are among the…
U.S. National Archives Holdings Provide New Insight Into 1954 Anti-Comics Hearings
Happy National Comic Book Day! In honor of the occasion, the U.S. National Archives shared some wonderful items from their collection on their Facebook page. All became federal records in 1954, when they were presented to a Senate subcommittee which…
Frivolous Arrest of Cartoonist Fuels Effort to Repeal Indian Sedition Law
Political cartoonist Aseem Trivedi’s arrest last week on sedition charges stirred up a renewed debate on the freedom of expression in India. The general consensus, even among Trivedi’s detractors, is that Trivedi’s arrest is an abuse of the law. It…