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Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Holds Manga Giveaway
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) will be hosting a manga giveaway at the New York Comic Con convention on October 13 - 16. Money raised in the raffle will go toward the defense of an American man accused of importing child pornography by bringing manga on his computer into Canada.
To enter the giveaway, New York Comic Con attendees must visit CBLDF's table in Manga Artists Alley and sign up for a membership or purchase raffle tickets at the CBLDF table in the Exhibitor's Hall. Manga publishers Viz Media, Seven Seas, Vertical, Yen Press, Dark Horse, DMP, Kodansha, and ALC Publishing donated manga prize packages for teen and adult readers for each day of the convention. Contributed titles include Tenjo Tenge , Dance in the Vampire Bund, A Certain Scientific Railgun, Strawberry Panic!, Lychee Light Club, Chi's Sweet Home, Highschool of the Dead , Yotsuba!, Rica 'tte Kanji!?, Yuri Monogatari, and selections from CLAMP.
CBLDF announced its intent to assist with the accused American man's defense in June. It will provide legal assistance and contribute financially to the man's defense costs (estimated at C$150,000 or about US$152,000). The man is now facing the possibility of a year in prison and registering as a sex offender because of the art he possessed. CBLDF hosted a panel at the San Diego Comic-Con in July to raise awareness of the man's case and collect contributions for the defense fund.
Last May, the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) posted the Canada Border Services Agency's policies for searching travelers' belongings. The agency described anime as child pornography "only if characters are explicitly depicted as children involved in sex acts e.g. lack of secondary sexual characteristics, breast development, pubic hair," although this distinction is not in the Canadian laws.
In 2005, a man arrested for importing loli-porn into Canada pleaded guilty and received an 18-month conditional sentence, 100 hours of community service, and a C$150 fine. The Canada Border Services Agency also banned importation of the hentai anime series Cool Devices and Words Worth in 2008.
[Via okazu]
