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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

First #SDCC26 panel: 40 Years of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund! Thursday, June 23rd, 12pm-1pm in Room 11. Join us for a look at the trials, triumphs, and changes in our fight to protect free expression through the comic arts!

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Here's the cover to the 2004 political parody comic by Pulitzer finalist @pkuper.bsky.social mentioned in yesterday's post, along with an explanation of the case. Both are from the 2011 CBLDF @cryptozoic.bsky.social Liberty Trading Cards set!

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

A year-long exhibit on book censorship opens at the College of DuPage Library after Gender Queer graphic novel challenged codcourier.org/college-of-d...

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

Another topic: criminalizing manga and anima, inc. the implications of 2025 arrests in Japan based on Penal Code 175, the arrest of an international visitor to AnimeNY, and @cbldf cases involving actual, threatened, or feared arrests for manga or anime possession.

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

Of course, we'll also talk about the implications of HR 7661, the book ban bill, in the U.S., along with the recent changes to Texas law targeting "a cartoon or animation" as well as the latest in court cases.

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

Manga and anime censorship is the topic of our next panel, tomorrow (Sunday, 3/29) at 1pm in Room 213CD. One key issue about which receive a lot of questions & reports: changes made in adaptations across media (manga –> anime), borders, cultures, and time.

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Today at 5pm at WonderCon, Room 213CD: our CBLDF panel on the latest in comics censorship and strategies for protecting the comic arts in your community!

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

A legal look at the book ban bill, HR 7661, is on the CBLDF's website. I'll post key points here this week – in the meantime, check out the full story for the bill's true aim, its constitutional flaws, the odds of passage, and why we should not be afraid. cbldf.org/2026/03/a-le...

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

A real school board official's objection to manga to justify removal: it teaches students to read in the wrong direction.

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

This AP article with the latest news re repealing the Sacramento crime comics ordinance includes a discussion of anti-comics law history w/ the CBLDF - kudos to Eben Burgoon on the initiative! apnews.com/article/comi...

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

Retailer arrested in North Carolina for distribution of comics at local trunk or treat. www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/n...

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

This reflects an ongoing attempt to revise the Miller test - multiple salvos in recent years, and even more intense now. In fact, it was a focal point in our CBLDF panels this year as well as my recent interview with the School Library Journal! www.schoollibraryjournal.com/story/Moment...

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

It's also the main case to which I'm referring in this new article from @slj.com, though there are others equally concerning. www.slj.com/story/Moment...

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

Could libraries lose First Amendment protection? That's the issue in the Little v. Llano County case now under consideration for Supreme Court review.

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 25/10/2025

The CBLDF's Jeff Trexler discusses the latest threats to free speech through comics with Calvin Reid for the @publisherswkly.bsky.social More to Come podcast @newyorkcomiccon.bsky.social! www.publishersweekly.com/pw/podcasts/...

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

Victory in Texas, as judge rules in our favor to stop enforcement of HB900, the mandatory government ratings law that seeks to impose a new Comics Code for graphic novels and other books distributed to schools. cbldf.org/2025/10/rate...

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 11/10/2025

Pop-up signing with Amy Chu tonight from 6 PM at the CBLDF booth in Artist Alley at New York Comic-Con!

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Tonight @newyorkcomiccon.bsky.social: the CBLDF Comic Book Bans on Trial panel, covering the latest developments in the fight against comics censorship! Time: 6:30-7:15pm, Thursday, October 9 Place: Room 1C03, Javits Center

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

Check out the new podcast from the Brooklyn Public Library w/ comics legend Art Spiegelman and the CBLDF's Jeff Trexler on the censorship of Maus! www.bklynlibrary.org/podcasts/mau...

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

Yeah no: Alberta gov't claims to allay school book ban concerns by revising order to clarify that won't apply to a "written passage", just a "visual depiction" – in other words, only graphic novels and manga are targeted. Targeted books for removal include Gender Queer and Fun Home.

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

Going to San Diego Comic-Con? We look forward to seeing you at our annual CBLDF Comic-Con Welcome Party on Thursday, July 24, from 8-midnight! Here are the links for more info and to RSVP in advance! www.eventbrite.com/e/cbldf-sdcc... cbldf.org/2025/07/cbld...

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

Artist alley, professional networking, cosplay contests, applying for a visa and arriving at the border - the big post on specific strategic considerations for traveling to U.S. comic-cons is now up on CBLDF.org! cbldf.org/2025/06/visa...

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 16/06/2025

Does visa law have a free speech exemption for creative work while at a comic-con on a business/tourist visa or ESTA? What about reporting on conventions or graphic novels with political content? Check out the new post on the CBLDF website for an overview! cbldf.org/2025/06/visa...

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

Yesterday at a presentation to NY librarians re what's next for book challenges, we noted trend of criminalizing/removing GNs on the basis of a single image. Case in point: "It's literally one panel of the graphic novel, but we felt it was in violation of the law in Missouri."

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

Visa ABCs: The visas and comic-cons series continues on the CBLDF website. In addition to visa types - B, I, O, etc. - this post examines how the current level of heightened enforcement reflects a longstanding tension w/in U.S. immigration law. cbldf.org/2025/06/visa...

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

Here's the link to the first post in the visas and comic-cons series: cbldf.org/2025/06/this...

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

This week on the CBLDF website: visas and comic-cons. Is it safe for creators and fans from other countries to travel to the U.S.? How do visa restrictions affect what you can say, create, and sell? This series will answer these questions and more!

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

Mixed results yesterday in the Texas legislature - SB13 passed and now goes to the governor for signing, but HB3225, designed to discourage librarians from acquiring or shelving the graphic novels condemned by the bill's advocates, did not advance in the Senate.

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

The censorship of comics is on display at the Freedom Forum, where we're meeting today to discuss recent developments with other free expression groups!

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Oh, Canada: Alberta government targets graphic novels for alleged "extremely graphic" content: Gender Queer, Fun Home, Blankets, Flamer. Next step: establishing uniform province standard for books in school libraries.

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

R.I.P. to legendary comics creator and former CBLDF board member Peter David, who understood. www.peterdavid.net/2014/08/22/t...

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

... but expressly disregards it. SB20 is essentially the statute struck down in Free Speech Coalition redux.

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

In the immortal words of the Second Doctor back in the 1960s when he thought he'd defeated the Daleks forever, "This is the end, the final end."

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

UPDATE: HB1375, the Texas bill that, if enacted, will authorize filing lawsuits against comic shops for selling graphic novels that anyone finds objectionable, made the House calendar at the last minute.

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

Per HB1375, it would *not* be a defense from monetary liability for the same person accused under this statute to have been found not guilty under the criminal law from which HB1375 takes its definitions!

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

One might think that HB1375 refers to material that's obscene/harmful to minors would be a safe haven, and with respect to a guilty verdict, that's possible for much of the material being challenged today. However ...

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

There had been hope that the new version of HB1375, released today, would remove or significantly narrow this provision, but as you can see in the images in these posts, it remains.

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

Congratulations to Tessa Hulls on winning the Pulitzer Prize for Feeding Ghosts – and thanks for showing to the world once again how graphic novels help us understand who we are!

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

Jeff T here: the Mavrides case was discussed at the very first CBLDF event that I ever attended, this gathering by the 1st Yale Law alum @cbldf, legal legend Louise Nemschoff, when I was clerking for Judge Dorothy W Nelson @ the 9th Circuit US Court of Appeals in Pasadena!

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

The CBLDF's work on the impact of taxes and trade on free expression through the comic arts goes back to its early years, most notably in supporting Paul Mavrides' historic 1996 challenge to the California sales tax on comic art!

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

Here's the complete article, which also has key quotes from JT's writing re the comics exemption, highlighted on cbldf.org soon after Trump's 4/2 reciprocal tariffs' executive order! www.tcj.com/comics-and-t...

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

TCJ's new article Comics and Trump's Tariffs 2.0 includes Jeff Trexler @cbldf re how exemption for comics "and other informational material regardless of format or medium was expressly created to exempt constitutionally protected free expression.”

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

Jeff Trexler @cbldf filming a post-election comics censorship update @FordhamLawNYC for the forthcoming Denis Kitchen - Oddly Compelling documentary!

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

The court went overboard w/ dismissing the cartoon logo as juvenile, but I gotta agree that having a watermark that overwhelms a court filing's text can be distracting. Full story and judge's order here: reason.com/volokh/2025/...

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

"Use of this dragon cartoon logo is not only distracting, it is juvenile and impertinent. The Court is not a cartoon....[P]laintiff shall not file any other documents with the cartoon dragon or other inappropriate content"

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Another victory for graphic novels in education - the Radnor school board has just voted to return Gender Queer, Fun Home, and Blankets from the high school library. They also agreed as a baseline that the images in these books do not constitute pornography.

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Tremendous support for graphic novels from the public at the Radnor Township school board meeting – judging from the testimony, the removal of Gender Queer, Fun Home, and Blankets from the school library shelves has given these books many new readers in the area!

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Thanks to Kickstarter for reversing its previous decision on Don Simpson's new Megaton Man: Multimensions, which is now live! I'll be explaining more about the issues involved soon, here and our website.

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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund @cbldf.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Note the use of images at the this week's Radnor school board meeting re graphic novel removal - next meeting is April 22. (Via SAVVY Main Line: www.facebook.com/permalink.ph...)

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