Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
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22 years old
NEW YORK, New York
United States



Last Login: 2/4/2009
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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund 12/5 = CBLDF Holiday Party NYC http://www.cbldf.org/articles/archives/000364.shtml
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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund's Latest Blog Entry  [Subscribe to this Blog]

12/5: Member Appreciation Holiday Party in NYC!  (view more)

CBLDF To Serve As Special Consultant In PROTECT Act Manga Case  (view more)

Nov 8: Sandman Live, Hosted by Neil Gaiman!  (view more)

Aug 21: Cory Doctorow Meets DJ Spooky -- A CBLDF Benefit Mashup!  (view more)

7/31: Eddie Campbell Live in New York!  (view more)

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   Comic Book Legal Defense Fund's Blurbs
About me:

 

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund was founded in 1986 to defend the First Amendment rights of comic books and the people who create and sell them. Since its establishment, the Fund has defended dozens of retailers and artists in important First Amendment cases, and provided free legal advice and education to hundreds of others. The CBLDF's guiding principle is that comics should be accorded the same constitutional rights as literature, film, or any other form of expression.



CBLDF at NYCC '09



The CBLDF is rolling out a variety of cool stops for NYCC, and I hope you can cover some of them or just attend and have a grand time. Feel free to email me for further comment if you'd like.

New York Comic Con Welcome Party!

Kick Off NYCC with the CBLDF!

Join the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund in kicking off the 2009 convention season at our New York Comic-Con Welcome Party on Thursday, February 5! Enjoy drinks, free sliders for early arrivals, and door prizes! This party is sponsored by Image Comics and Dark Horse Comics. Admission will be $5 and up for CBLDF members, $10 and up for non-members.

Attending artists will include: Colleen Doran, David Mack, Rantz Hoseley, Dean Haspiel, Mike Cavallero, Nikki Cook, Mahmud Asrar, Brahm Revel and many more!

What: The CBLDF's NYCC Welcome Party Date: Thursday February 5, 2009 Time: 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM Location: Side Bar Street: 120 E. 15th Street (Near Union Square) City: New York, NY Donation : $5 & up for current CBLDF Members; $10 & up for non-members

NYCC Masters Workshops!

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study under comics masters at New York Comic Con!

The Fund & NYCC have teamed up to create a series of workshops focused on helping young and aspiring creators make the next step in their comics careers! Participating creators include Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio, Terry Moore, Brian Wood, Peter Steigerwald, & Vince Hernandez!

Space in these extraordinary workshops is extremely limited, but still available. Proceeds from the workshops benefit the CBLDF! To reserve your space, visit: http://www.nycomiccon.com/app/homepage.cfm?appname=100453&moduleID=2523&LinkID=31617&submenuheader=15

NYCC Exclusives!

Stop by the CBLDF's table for three exclusive prints to benefit the cause

Dustin Nguyen's "The Adventures of Kozmo and Rerun the Cosmic Dog" Print. 8.5x11in on water color paper. This signed print is limited to 50 pieces, and everyone who purchases it will get a free headsketch on the print at his table in Artist's Alley. All proceeds benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Peter Kuper's "Free Speech" Print. 8.5x11in on water color paper. This signed print is limited to 100 pieces, and all proceeds benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Terry Moore's "Echo" print, from the cover of Issue #6. 11x14 on matte bond paper. This signed print is limited to 100 pieces, and all proceeds benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Peter Kuper's "Free Speech" print is also available to all donors who contribute $25 or more to the Fund before February 8 at http://www.cbldf.com/Donations_s/2.htm



CBLDF To Serve As Special Consultant In PROTECT Act Manga Case






The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has signed on as a special consultant to the defense of Chistopher Handley, an Iowa collector who faces up to 20 years in prison for possession of manga.  The Fund adds its First Amendment expertise to the case, managed by United Defense Group's Eric Chase, and will also be providing monetary support towards obtaining expert witnesses.

Handley, 38, faces penalties under the PROTECT Act (18 U.S.C. Section 1466A) for allegedly possessing manga that the government claims to be obscene.  The government alleges that the material includes drawings that they claim appear to be depictions of minors engaging in sexual conduct.  No photographic content is at issue in Handley's case.

"Handley's case is deeply troubling, because the government is prosecuting a private collector for possession of art," says CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein.  "In the past, CBLDF has had to defend the First Amendment rights of retailers and artists, but never before have we experienced the Federal Government attempting to strip a citizen of his freedom because he owned comic books. We will bring our best resources to bear in aiding Mr. Handley's counsel as they defend his freedom and the First Amendment rights of every art-loving citizen in this country."

Mr. Handley's case began in May 2006 when he received an express mail package from Japan that contained seven Japanese comic books.  That package was intercepted by the Postal Inspector, who applied for a search warrant after determining that the package contained cartoon images of objectionable content.  Unaware that his materials were searched, Handley drove away from the post office and was followed by various law enforcement officers, who pulled him over and followed him to his home.  Once there, agents from the Postal Inspector's office, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, Special Agents from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, and officers from the Glenwood Police Department seized Handley's collection of over 1,200 manga books or publications; and hundreds of DVDs, VHS tapes, laser disks; seven computers, and other documents. Though Handley's collection was comprised of hundreds of comics covering a wide spectrum of manga, the government is prosecuting images appearing in a small handful.

Putting the case into context, Burton Joseph, CBLDF's Legal Counsel says, "In the lengthy time in which I have represented CBLDF and its clients, I have never encountered a situation where criminal prosecution was brought against a private consumer for possession of material for personal use in his own home.  This prosecution has profound implications in limiting the First Amendment for art and artists, and comics in particular, that are on the cutting edge of creativity. It misunderstands the nature of avant-garde art in its historical perspective and is a perversion of anti-obscenity laws."

Eric Chase and his team at the United Defense Group have been vigorously defending Handley, and scored a major First Amendment victory earlier this year when the judge found portions of the PROTECT Act unconstitutional in his ruling on a motion to dismiss. District Judge Gritzner of the Southern District of Iowa found that subsections 1466(a)(2) and (b)(2) of 18 U.S.C. 1466A unconstitutional.  Those sections make it a crime to knowingly produce, distribute, receive, or possess with intent to distribute, "a visual depiction of any kind, including a drawing, cartoon, sculpture, or painting," that "is, or appears to be" a minor engaged in sexual conduct.  Judge Gritzner found that those sections restrict protected speech and are constitutionally infirm.

Handley now faces charges under the surviving sections of 1466A, which will require a jury to determine whether the drawings at issue are legally obscene.  The material cannot be deemed obscene unless it meets all three of the criteria of the Miller test for obscenity: "(a) whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; (b) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law; and (c) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value."  The jury must answer all three questions in the affirmative in order to convict.

Eric Chase recognized the importance of the case, and of the CBLDF's contribution to it, in a statement to the CBLDF: "This case represents the latest in a string of efforts by the Department of Justice to encroach on free speech. The United Defense Group is committed to fighting to maintain the protections guaranteed in the Constitution, and we appreciate the CBLDF's support in this fight."







Support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and help preserve comics as a vital medium for the next century. Everyone in the comics community, from fans to pros to retailers, has a vital interest in preserving the medium's ability to grow, and by joining the CBLDF, you'd be helping protect First Amendment rights of the comics you love.



JOIN THE CAUSE! Become a member of the CBLDF now!







 

Purchase signed & rare graphic novels, prints and more! Leading creators in comics have donated signed & unsigned copies of their work to benefit the fund. Take some of these items home for your enjoyment and you'll be fighting censorship at the same time.



Featured Item: 300 Signed by Frank Miller
Who I'd like to meet:

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has 3253 friends.
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 Fef 





Comic Book Legal Defense Fund's Friends Comments
Displaying 25 of 115 comments  ( View All | Add Comment )
Glamourdoll 13





Dec 4 2008 9:16 PM

Thanks for the add :)
Horror Artist





Dec 4 2008 9:45 PM

Kill it! Kill it! comics © ™(a Zombie comic)





Dec 5 2008 4:43 AM

Thanks for the add...we should be getting our membership soon
Literate Machine





Dec 5 2008 4:54 AM

Thank you for being our friend! Please visit our new site for free downloads of independent comics, eBooks, artwork & magazines: www. literatemachine. com
super





Dec 5 2008 7:37 AM

thanks for the add
SUPER
super episode n°1 : je vole
Willow The Gothic Princess | The Art of Leah





Dec 5 2008 12:12 PM

~Merci beaucoup pour l'add!
Thank You so much for the Add
and for counting me as one of your friends.

Blessed be and Merry Meet,
~Leah


Every child is an artist.
The problem is how to remain an artist
once we grow up.


Phi3 COMICS





Dec 6 2008 12:28 AM


Thanks for the ADD!
Darrick Patrick





Dec 1 2008 10:56 PM

Much respect and best of wishes!
The Amazing Spider-Man #1





Oct 8 2008 2:06 AM

Cee Diddy





Oct 23 2008 1:33 AM

Dark Matter™





Nov 4 2008 10:06 PM

Thank you.
Blurred Edge Magazine





Aug 21 2008 5:35 PM

Thanks for the friendship and welcome to the club. Keep fighting the good fight.




Also check out

our semi daily newsblog about Games, Hollywood, Comics and everything else that actually matters.
Zoom Graphics





Jul 31 2008 4:02 AM

Devil’s Minstrels





Aug 2 2008 7:28 PM

Thanks for the Support!


Java





Aug 7 2008 9:32 PM

merci !!!
The Crowd in an empty Room
青はすlml =◣.~=┌∩┐忍者/志能備 Kabuki Doll





Aug 15 2008 9:07 PM

Thank you for allowing me the pleasure and honour of your friendship. It fucks me right off when some prick attempts to censor an artists comic or manga. I'm sure if the artists/writers intended for blur outs of anatomical parts, blood becoming green instead of red and all the cuss words removed they would have decided so at the editing stage. So in closing stay protecting creators rights and work to appear in the form it was initially INTENDED to be put out in, before the politically correct fools get their self-rightous grubby little mits on it. May fate smile favourably on you and have a pleasant evening.
The Biggest MySpace Loser





Jul 8 2008 11:54 PM

Hey new friend!

I really love your page.
How are you?
<3
Big Game Comics





Jul 10 2008 4:39 AM

Thanks for the add!!
Photobucket
Web Spinner Productions





Jun 14 2008 8:48 AM

Photobucket
GALACTICBINDER.COM





Jun 14 2008 6:14 PM

Photobucket
Chris Addams of "One Live Beast"





Jun 12 2008 11:57 AM

Kudos for winning Gordon's Case! You guys RULE!!!
Photobucket
DEADMAN





Jun 11 2008 6:39 PM

Thanksssss for the add. I neeeeeeded that.

$emio.txt





May 29 2008 5:50 PM

Mornin.
This Here Magican Longs to See,
How about You?
EMMET JUNIAS





Jun 3 2008 6:31 PM

Howdy CBLDF!

I thought you might like to know!

ISSUE #19 IS UP!

Me and Tom Kat get ZAPPED by EXTRAGALACTIC COSMIC RAYS!

If you'd like to go to bumblebeegazette. com and read all about it
just click on the image below.

Photobucket

Thanks fer bein' my pal!
Neil Gaiman





May 21 2008 8:43 PM


Neil Gaiman for the CBLDF
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