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 is committed to supporting the comics community. Fill out our form to request assistance or report censorship today!
CBLDF is committed to supporting the comics community. Fill out our form to request assistance or report censorship today!
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.
Neil Gaiman Talks CBLDF in Chicago!
Neil Gaiman Talks CBLDF with Rick Marshall at MTV News at last week’s C2E2 convention! Also check out Neil’s press appearances in Time Out Chicago and Geek Girl On The Street!
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!
Premium – Who Killed Amanda Palmer Signed by Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer
Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer, the first couple of modern misfit lit, present a unique collection of photography and stories. This beautiful, hardcover, full color book boasts photography by Kyle Cassidy, Beth Hommel, and others, and is signed by Gaiman and Palmer to benefit the CBLDF!
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.
Remembering Burton Joseph
Burton Joseph, pioneering First Amendment advocate and long serving legal counsel for Comic Book Legal Defense Fund died at his home in San Francisco on March 31 at the age of 79. The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is honored to salute Mr. Joseph with remembrances from his friends and colleagues.
Premium – 100 Bullets Vol. 8 The Hard Way Softcover Signed by Brian Azzarello
Outspoken CBLDF supporter Brian Azzarello signs this explosive 100 BULLETS collection! Reprinting 100 BULLETS #50-58, unraveling the tangled mystery of the Trust as Wylie Times becomes the latest Minuteman to be reactivated by the Trust’s one-time enforcer Agent Graves. But which side will he choose? Plus, an introduction by crime novelist Jason Starr (Twisted City, Tough Luck).
Neil Gaiman: Why Defend Freedom of Icky Speech?
“The CBLDF will defend your First Amendment right as an adult to make lines on paper, to draw, to write, to sell, to publish, and now, to own comics. And that’s what makes the kind of work you don’t like,…