Defending
Our Rights!
COMIC BOOK LEGAL DEFENSE FUND Annual Report 2017
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of the First Amendment rights of the comics art form and its community of retailers, creators, publishers, librarians, educators, and readers. CBLDF provides legal referrals, representation, advice, assistance, and education in furtherance of these goals.
STAFF Charles Brownstein, Executive Director Alex Cox, Deputy Director Georgia Nelson, Development Manager Betsy Gomez, Editorial Director Maren Williams, Contributing Editor Robert Corn-Revere, Legal Counsel
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
ADVISORY BOARD
Larry Marder, President Milton Griepp, Vice President Jeff Abraham, Treasurer Dale Cendali, Secretary Jennifer L. Holm Reginald Hudlin Katherine Keller Paul Levitz Christina Merkler Chris Powell Jeff Smith
Neil Gaiman & Denis Kitchen, Co-Chairs Susan Alston Greg Goldstein Matt Groening Chip Kidd Jim Lee Frenchy Lunning Frank Miller Louise Nemschoff Mike Richardson William Schanes José Villarrubia Bob Wayne Peter Welch
CREDITS Betsy Gomez, Designer and Editor Cover art by Tony Shasteen. pp. 6-7 art by Aaron Lange CBLDF is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization. Donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law in the year they are given. ©2017 Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and respective authors.
CBLDF thanks our Guardian Members:
James Wood Bailey, Grant Geissman, and Philip Harvey
CBLDF’s education program made possible with the generous support of the Gaiman Foundation and supporters like you!
Corporate Members
Director’s Note Free expression withstood a wide range of attacks in 2017. Thanks to donors like you, CBLDF was at the forefront, protecting our community from an increasing tempo of challenges to comics and other expressive material. From deploying our lawArt by Vanesa R. yers to help comics creators Del Rey to counseling educators and librarians in censorship crises, CBLDF was on the case. Our efforts in the courts helped prevent unconstitutional laws from taking effect, while our advocacy spoke powerfully for the rights of our community. We also stepped up our education work, creating a new Retailer Rights Workshop program to train comic store staff about how they can protect their rights. We’re proud to share this important work with you. These are embattled times for the First Amendment, and CBLDF’s work is essential to preserving the rights it guarantees the comics community. Please help us advance this important work by making a tax-deductible contribution today! —Charles Brownstein, Executive Director
CBLDF: ON THE FRONT LINES Legal Action CBLDF’s legal efforts in 2017 protected our community, overturned unconstitutional laws, and preserved the right to free expression. Some highlights: CBLDF provided legal advice and support in a variety of cases affecting creators, readers, and publishers. Thanks to CBLDF, these cases were resolved positively, without going to court. The Fund helped facilitate the replacement of California’s flawed autograph law, protecting the rights of comics retailers, artists, and bookstores. CBLDF joined a Media Coalition amicus brief in Tobinick v. Novella, and the court upheld our assertion that speech hosted on a website that also displays ads does not automatically become “commercial speech,” a category of speech that has less protection. This is a valuable victory for creators who publish comics online! CBLDF continued battling the socalled “Beloved bill” in Virginia, which would have required schools to warn parents about materials containing “sexually explicit” content. The latest bill was vetoed by the governor. CBLDF is defending vast swathes of library and classroom materials in Dixie County, Florida, where an order from the superintendent targets for removal any library materials, textbooks, or supplemental texts that contain “profanity, cursing, or inappropriate subject matter.”
We joined the National Coalition Against Censorship to protest H.B. 103, an overly broad New Hampshire law that was intended to regulate sex education but was so vaguely worded that it could impact books in other courses, including comics. We joined coalition efforts to protest anti-science bills in Florida, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. We joined a Cato Institute-led amicus brief in Lee v. Tam, a case in which the Supreme Court unanimously struck down portions of the Lanham Act and upheld an activist Asian-American band’s right to an “offensive” trademark. CBLDF joined dozens of organizations to oppose President Donald J. Trump’s immigration ban on individuals from predominantly Muslim countries. Such a ban would impact creative freedom, collaboration, and the free flow of ideas.
Art by Matthew Loux
CBLDF joined a massive coalition to condemn a Department of Homeland Security proposal that would require non-citizens to provide their social media passwords as a condition of entering the United States. The policy would invade the privacy of foreign nationals and everyone in their social networks, including millions of U.S. citizens. The proposal also could impact U.S. citizens as other nations emulate DHS’s practices. The overly broad policy puts comics creators and conventiongoers participating in events domestically and abroad at risk.
Retailer Support The CBLDF Retailer Rights Workshop is a new program protecting comic stores and their staff! Content ranges from in-depth overview of laws governing content to how-to sessions for managing situations like police visits, media attacks, and other areas affecting the right to sell comics. CBLDF staff will deliver these workshops across the U.S. throughout 2018! To find out when we’re coming to your region, please email info@cbldf.org with the subject line “Retailer Rights Workshop.”
Educator and Librarian Support Teachers and librarians continue to be on censorship’s front lines, and CBLDF has their backs. During 2017: We co-signed more than a dozen letters of support to battle book challenges around the country. We provided advice and counsel that led to successful resolution of numerous comics challenges. We provided hundreds of pages of online resources to support comics in education, including resources
about the use of comics in classrooms and the collection of challenged and banned graphic novels. Here are some of the books we defended in 2017: Bone by Jeff Smith Sword Art Online 1: Aincrad by Reki Kawahara and abec Stuck in the Middle, edited by Ariel Schrag The Absolutely True Diary of a PartTime Indian by Sherman Alexie, with art by Ellen Forney To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls Jacob’s New Dress by Sarah and Ian Hoffman I Am Jazz by Jazz Jennings, Jessica Herthel, and Shelagh McNicholas The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Publications CBLDF’s publications reach tens of thousands of people each year, providing practical and timely information about free expression rights in our community and encouraging understanding about the value of comics! We published Panel Power, a resource about the benefits of comics that includes activities and reading recommendations for engaging kids with comics. An essential tool for retailers, educators, librarians, and parents, you can read it online at http://cbldf.org /panel-power/ Our quarterly news magazine, CBLDF Defend-
Using Comics to Make Lifelong Readers!
er, continues to bring readers important news, analysis, and historical perspective on the intersection of free expression and comics. Free in comic book stores, at conventions, and online, our quarterly news magazine is one of the most widely read publications dedicated to free speech. Read current and past issues here: http://cbldf.org /cbldf-defender/ CBLDF’s Defend Comics brings the celebration of free speech to younger readers during Free Comic Book Day. This year’s issue featured a cover and story by Jeffrey Brown (Jedi Academy, Darth Vader and Son) and stories by Jennifer and Matthew Holm (Babymouse), Matthew Loux (The Time Museum), Falynn K (Science Comics: Bats), and many more! The revamped 2017 edition of the CBLDF Banned Books Week Handbook provided practical information about banned comics; guidance about handling challenges and the rights of librarians, educators, retailers, and readers; programming activities; and much more! Featuring a cover by Jillian Tamaki (This One Summer)! Read it online: http://cbldf.org/?p=18232
Coalitions Our coalition efforts helped protect the First Amendment on several fronts and continued alliances that strengthen our efforts on behalf of comics. Chaired by CBLDF Executive Direc-
tor, Charles Brownstein, the Banned Books Week Coalition celebrated “Our Right to Read” during this year’s event. CBLDF continued our sponsorship of the Kids’ Right to Read Project, a leading advocate for the rights of young readers. Our membership in the Media Coalition, the National Coalition Against Censorship, and the Freedom to Read Foundation provides a voice for comics in some of the most important defenses of free expression in the United States.
Appearances CBLDF delivered dozens of public appearances at universities, libraries, symposiums, and conventions across the United States and around the world. We exhibited at every major comics convention in the U.S., offering a variety of programming on topics including current and historical comics censorship, legal education, and practical workshops for educators and librarians. We also spoke out for the rights of our members on various television and radio outlets. CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein returned to Japan for a speaking tour emphasizing collaboration among international manga professionals to improve the status of intellectual freedom.
CBLDF accomplishes all this and much more thanks to your contributions. We need your support to continue our important mission in 2018. Please make a tax-deductible contribution to CBLDF today! cbldf.org/contribute/donate/
CBLDF TO THE RESCUE!
CBLDF’s most important efforts are the ones you never hear about. At the first sign of legal trouble, we deploy our lawyers, who frequently defuse cases before they go to court. Here is one of those cases from 2017, in which our lawyers protected the rights of cartoonist Aaron Lange.
Art by Aaron Lange, https://thecomixcompany.ecrater.com
HOW TO HELP BECOME A MEMBER For a membership contribution of as little as $5 a year, you can be part of the supporter community that ensures we can continue our important work to protect free expression. VOLUNTEER CBLDF is a lean organization that’s
made powerful by the contributions of our volunteers. Whether you’re a student or an enthusiast, CBLDF has volunteer opportunities in our office and at conventions. If you’re a writer, artist, or designer, we also need your help!
SPREAD THE WORD Join our email list and follow us
on Twitter and Facebook to learn the latest in our efforts to protect comics. Share our work with your network of friends and followers. The more people who know of our work, the better able we are to perform it!
DESIGNATE THE FUND Many employee matching
fund campaigns and online retail sites such as Amazon, eBay, and Humble Bundle let you designate an organization to receive funds from your purchases. You can help CBLDF by designating us as your chosen charity wherever these efforts are available!
DONATE Visit cbldf.org to make a tax-deductible
monetary donation in support of our work. We also accept contributions of original art and other goods that can be used to advance our auction efforts. Your support makes a difference—please donate today!
cbldf.org • 1-800-99-CBLDF
“CBLDF is a major force in fighting censorship and preserving First Amendment liberties for those of us who read, create, publish, or sell comics on paper or on the Web.” —Neil Gaiman (The Sandman, The Graveyard Book) “As Americans, we need to keep working to protect the freedom we and our children have not only to say and write what we want, but also to read what we want. CBLDF is at the forefront of protecting the freedom to read, and I’m proud to be a part of it.” —Jennifer L. Holm (Babymouse, Squish) “The work they are doing is as important and timely as ever, because with the growing popularity of graphic novels, the art form has caught the attention of people who think they know better than the rest of us what we should read.” —Jeff Smith (Bone, RASL)