Category: News Blog

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News Media Responds to EMA v. Schwarzenegger

by Amy Long
for The Media Coalition

Over 100 newspapers, websites, and blogs reported on the Supreme Court’s decision to grant California’s petition for certiorari in EMA v. Schwarzenegger. Papers across the United States, Canada and Britain carried the news, which reached as far as New Zealand’s Top News, the Ethiopian Review and Thailand’s The Thaindian paper, which takes a view that is generally supportive of the state’s position (though it notes that Schwarzenegger “seemed a tad too pleased with the court’s decision”). The case will be taken up by the Court in its fall term. Full coverage after the jump.

BPAL Debuts Neverwhere Fragrances!

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab continues their extraordinary series of fragrances based on the literary works of Neil Gaiman with Neverwhere, a set of fragrances based on the characters, locations, and ideas found within the popular Neil Gaiman novel!

Neverwhere boasts eleven fragrances, and proceeds from each bottle benefit the First Amendment legal work of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Since beginning the Neil Gaiman fragrance program, BPAL has donated proceeds in excess of $50,000 to the CBLDF’s efforts! Please visit them at: http://www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com

Supreme Court to Decide Whether States Can Regulate Violent Video Games

On Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to review a ruling that the First Amendment bars restrictions on video games with violent themes. The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has actively opposed such restrictions, including participating in a 2008 friend-of-the-court (aka amicus) brief filed by the Media Coalition, addressing this same case. In hearing this case, the Supreme Court will decide whether or not it will adopt a new constitutional standard that allows states to ban violent content.

CBLDF Attends LA Times Festival of Books & Stumptown Comics Fest!

This weekend, the CBLDF team will be hitting the West Coast to meet supporters in Los Angeles at the LA Times Festival of Books and Portland, Oregon at the Stumptown Comics Festival!

Beanworld creator Larry Marder will join the Fund in LA, signing books and making sketches to benefit the Fund’s legal work. The CBLDF will also have a vast array of donation rewards, including books signed by Neil Gaiman, Geoff Johns, and more, plus fragrances from our friends at Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab!

In Portland, we’re hosting a membership drive, co-hosting signings with creators including Paul Pope, Craig Thompson & Mike Allred, and raffling off a copy of Adobe Illustrator CS4!

If you’re in Los Angeles or Portland, come on out and support the Fund!

Supreme Court Strikes Down Overbroad Content Law in U.S. v. Stevens

By Alex Goldman

In a ruling on Tuesday, the Supreme Court voted 8-1 to strike down a 1999 federal law that criminalizes the possession or sale of “depictions of animal cruelty,” saying that the statute is overbroad and it violates the First Amendment. The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, who participated as a member of Media Coalition’s amicus group, welcomes this important ruling as an affirmation of the First Amendment’s guarantee to free speech.

Bone Prompts School Library Controversy

By Alex Goldman
Of all the comics out there, Jeff Smith’s self-published fantasy epic Bone, recipient of innumerable Harvey and Eisner awards is certainly not one you would think of as the subject of controversy. Yet it was last week when a Minnesota parent petitioned her school district to remove Bone comics from her son’s elementary school library.

Welcome To The New CBLDF.Org!

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is a community of people who love comics and recognize the First Amendment as the cornerstone of the medium’s creative vitality. The new CBLDF.org is designed to reflect and serve that community, with frequently updated news about comics, free expression, and the people who are taking strides to keep both healthy and strong.

The CBLDF Salutes Chicago With A World Class C2E2!

This weekend the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund lands in the windy city with an incredible array of events and exclusives for our supporters at the inaugural edition of C2E2! Join us for An Evening with Neil Gaiman with special items from CBLDF, BPAL & Neverwear; Signings with Tony Harris; an exclusive new print by Gaiman and Harris; and the launch of the CBLDF Exclusive Benefit BPAL fragrance Banned in Boston!

Will Japan Impose Bans on Explicit Manga?

In what could mark a cataclysmic change in the content of Manga both in Japan and in the United States, Tokyo’s Metropolitan Government is considering a change to Tokyo law that makes any visual representations of minors in sexual situations illegal.