The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, a nonprofit First Amendment watchdog for the comics reading, publishing and retail community, has formed a coalition to support the defense of an American comic book reader facing criminal charges after Canadian officials claimed the comics found on his laptop are child pornography. The CBLDF is providing financial support, expert testimony and legal strategy to support the American’s defense.
Charles Brownstein, executive director of the CBLDF, said the organization has been monitoring what he called, “the increasing problem of Canadian border officials seizing comic books.” According to Brownstein, the American—a computer programmer whose name is being withheld at the request of counsel for reasons of legal strategy—arrived at a Canadian airport with plans to visit a friend. Canadian Custom officials searched his laptop, iPhone and iPad, found manga on the laptop and considered it to be child pornography. The American is currently back in the U.S. but is banned from using the internet except while on his job.
Brownstein said, “this is an important case that impacts the rights of everyone who reads, publishes, and makes comics and manga in North America. It underscores the dangers facing everyone traveling with comics, and it can establish important precedents regarding travelers rights. It also relates to the increasingly urgent issue of authorities prosecuting art as child pornography.”
The costs of the defense is estimated to be as much as $150,000, Brownstein said, and the Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund, a Canadian Free Expression organization, will also contribute to the fundraising effort. Brownstein said pre-trial motions are scheduled later this year in December and the trial is likely to take place in late 2012.
“This case is also important with respect to artistic merit in the Canadian courts, and a good decision could bring Canadian law closer to U.S. law in that respect,” Brownstein said. “We want to join this effort to protect an American comic fan being prosecuted literally as he stood on the border of our country for behavior the First Amendment protects here, and its analogues in Canadian law should protect there,” Brownstein said.
