Notable Cases
- 1986: Michael Correa, store manager at Friendly Frank's, a comic store in Lansing, Illinois, was charged with possession and sale of obscene material, after over 100 comic books were seized, including copies of Omaha the Cat Dancer, and Verotika. He was convicted, but the conviction was overturned on appeal. Funds donated to the appeal exceeded costs, and the remainder went towards founding the CBLDF
- 1991: Comic artist Paul Mavrides protested against a resolution by the State of California to levy a sales tax on comic strips and comic books. He challenged the law in court, with assistance from the CBLDF, arguing that the comic strip is a communications medium that should be classed with books, magazines, and newspapers (which are not subject to sales taxes due to First Amendment provisions). In 1997, a ruling in Mavrides' favor was handed down by the California State Board of Equalization.
- 1994: Florida-based underground comic book artist Mike Diana was convicted in March for obscenity stemming from his self-published Boiled Angel. He was sentenced to three years probation, 1248 hours of community service, a $3000 fine, was banned from having contact with minors, and was forced to undergo a journalistic ethics course and a psychiatric evaluation at his own expense. After relocating to New York to serve out his sentence, he performs his community service hours—working for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
- 2000: Comic book artist Kieron Dwyer was sued by Starbucks Coffee for parodying their famous mermaid logo within his comic book Lowest Common Denominator. Although the judge ruled that Starbucks could not sue a parody and the case settled out of court, Dwyer was forced to comply with the ruling that he could no longer use his logo for its confusing similarity to that of Starbucks.
- 2005: Rome, Georgia comics retailer Gordon Lee was charged with distributing obscene material to a minor, after a child obtained an anthology comic containing brief nudity in an excerpt of The Salon on Halloween. A mistrial was called in 2007, and the case was finally dismissed in April 2008.
- 2008: An Iowa comics collector was being prosecuted under obscenity charges and was assisted by the CBLDF as a consultant. It was led by Eric Chase. For more information see here.
Read more about this topic: Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
Famous quotes containing the words notable and/or cases:
“In one notable instance, where the United States Army and a hundred years of persuasion failed, a highway has succeeded. The Seminole Indians surrendered to the Tamiami Trail. From the Everglades the remnants of this race emerged, soon after the trail was built, to set up their palm-thatched villages along the road and to hoist tribal flags as a lure to passing motorists.”
—For the State of Florida, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“I have always felt that the real purpose of government is to enhance the lives of people and that a leader can best do that by restraining government in most cases instead of enlarging it at every opportunity.”
—Gerald R. Ford (b. 1913)