Tag: censorship

Legends Revealed: Pre-Code Holiday Comics Policing Uncovered

To celebrate the holiday season, Brian Cronin of Comic Book Resources counts down the top Christmas Comic Book Legends Revealed, revealing which are fact and which are fiction. Let’s take a look at a couple of our favorites… Was Carl…

Neil Gaiman on Censorship and the Perception of Comics as a “Gutter Medium”

In the upcoming Winter 2014 issue of Index on Censorship magazine, political cartoonist Martin Rowson interviewed long-time free speech advocate and CBLDF Advisory Board Co-Chair Neil Gaiman on issues of censorship, comics as a gutter medium, and how graphic novels…

Allegedly Harmful: UK Injunction Patrols the Fine Line Between Freedom of Speech and Child Welfare

In early October the Court of Appeals in the UK issued an injunction, halting the publication of an unnamed memoir on the grounds that if distributed its “allegedly harmful” content could be “likely to exert a catastrophic effect on [the…

A Full-Frontal Assault on Censorship: Zap Comix and the Underground Movement

Before there were unified groups dedicated to protecting creators’ rights and their freedom of speech and expression, there was the underground comix movement. In response to the 1954 Senate Subcommittee hearings, which ruled comics to be garishly colored, morally devoid…

Neil Gaiman to Be Honored as NCAC 2014 Free Speech Defender

Today in New York City, the National Collation Against Censorship, along with thirty-nine other notable individuals, organizations, and initiatives, will honor award-winning author and comics creator Neil Gaiman the title of 2014 Free Speech Defender. For their 40th anniversary, at…

Copyright as Censorship? A Look at the Early History of Copyright

Fun fact: The concept of “copyright” was not originally created to protect creators’ rights to their content. Nor were early copyright laws implemented to propagate a free and healthy publishing industry meant to encourage new content to be produced. Rather,…

Facing Off in Jefferson County

Jefferson County, Colorado, has found itself the unlikely center of a debate over censorship and academic freedom, a fight characterized by some expected — and not so expected — players. On one side, we have a retired history teacher. On…

High School Students Show Increased Concern Over First Amendment Rights According To National Poll

According to a national poll, this year marked an important shift in how our nation’s youth views the freedom of speech. For the first time since the poll’s inception, the results indicate that American high school students value the protections…