Currently we are funding a case involving what we believe to be an unlawful seizure of parody comics at U.S. Customs. The comics in question, "Richie Bush" and "Moj Stub," were published in issues of the Slovenian comics anthology Stripburger. The short stories were seized because Customs believed the comics were "piratical" copies of existing copyrights. The Fund's legal experts disagreed, finding that the comics in question are protected as parody, and so we filed a request for court action. We are waiting for Customs to either initiate proceedings in Federal Court or drop the case by returning the books. We hope for a positive conclusion to this case early in the New Year.



The year's most significant battles were waged against display laws in Arkansas and Michigan that would have affected how comics, books, and other media are sold. The laws in question were amendments to existing "harmful to minors" statutes that would have required retailers to segregate and blind content falling into the overbroad definition of harmful, by applying a vague standard of display. In Arkansas we won a victory declaring that the law we were protesting was unconstitutional. In Michigan, the court dismissed our complaint, but in doing so interpreted the law in a fashion that protects the First Amendment rights of retailers.



We also continued the fight against unconstitutional Internet laws, scoring a big victory against the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the preliminary injunction against the law, stating COPA was "likely unconstitutional." A new hearing will occur next year in what we hope will begin the final showdown against this dangerous law. Action moved more slowly in South Carolina, where we are still in legal maneuvers against their "harmful to minors" Internet statute. As it stands, however, our work fighting these dangerous Internet laws ensures that cartoonists and retailers online will not have to change how they do business to accommodate for these unconstitutional statutes, because they are not enforceable during our challenges.



We participated as amicus, or friend of the court, in a number of cases. In California we came to the defense of a teen poet whose First Amendment rights were being trampled upon in the guise of the state's criminal threat law. George T., a high-school student, was expelled from school for writing poetry with graphic imagery and served time in a juvenile detention facility. We joined forces with the First Amendment Project and the ACLU of Northern California on a brief enlisting authors including J.M. Coetzee, Michael Chabon, Harlan Ellison, Neil Gaiman, Greg Rucka, Peter Straub, and other prominent authors and poets protesting the youth's treatment. The California Supreme Court agreed with the brief and overturned the student's conviction.



We also participated in New Times v. Isaacks, in a brief led by the Association of American Publishers, protesting a defamation claim by public officials because of a satirical article run in a local alternative newspaper. The Texas Supreme Court sided with our brief, affirming that the satire of public figures is speech protected by the First Amendment.



Another victorious amicus brief was joined in support of the Video Software Dealers Association's fight against Washington State's controversial video game law that prohibited the sale or rental to anyone under the age of 17 of a game depicting violence against law enforcement officers. A Federal District Judge threw the law out as unconstitutional on free speech grounds.



We joined a group of amici in filing a brief before the United States Supreme Court in City of Littleton v. Z.J. Gifts. At issue in this case was whether ordinances governing zoning laws as they apply to adult businesses guaranteed prompt judicial review or a prompt judicial decision. The Fund and our allies were pushing for a prompt judicial decision to be held as the standard, fearing that existing businesses that sideline in adult merchandise could be shut down permanently due to business lost while their case moved through the legal system. The Supremes unfortunately disagreed, upholding the status quo, stating, in essence, "trust the courts." The problematic aspect of this decision is that while prompt judicial review is guaranteed, the wait for a decision could be potentially fatal to small stores.



There were no new developments in other amicus casework, including Tyne v. Time-Warner, an important Right of Publicity case in Florida, and Muslim Community Association of Ann Arbor v. John Ashcroft, an important case challenging section 215 of the Patriot Act.



In addition to the above legal action, we experienced a change in the makeup of our Board of Directors. Founder and President Denis Kitchen retired from the Board after 18 years of service last summer, to be replaced as President by Chris Staros, publisher of Top Shelf Productions. John Davis of Davis Marketing Services also stepped down from the Board to pursue other interests. In their absence, Paul Levitz, President and Publisher of DC Comics and Steve Geppi, Founder and President of Diamond Comic Distributors joined the CBLDF Board. Peter David, Neil Gaiman, Milton Griepp, Greg Ketter, Frank Mangiaracina, and Louise Nemschoff were re-elected to serve on the Board, with Griepp stepping into the role of Treasurer.



This was a positive year for fundraising, allowing the Fund to raise a substantial increase to our war chest. The efforts of several individuals and organizations made this possible, most notably: Fiddler's Green, the Sandman convention whose committee raised in excess of $45,000 for the CBLDF this November; SPX, which raised $22,000 for CBLDF; Jim Lee, whose continuing efforts earned him the distinction of Defender of Liberty; as well as the dozens of convention organizers and hundreds of supporters whose contributions paid for the Fund's legal work and war chest contribution through the year.



Going into the New Year, the Fund is as strong as it's ever been, thanks to the generous contributions of our supporters and the solid work put in by our legal team. 2005 will have its share of challenges, with the Customs battle still developing and an overall troubling climate for Free Speech. But, despite these challenges, we are in a position to continue to fight the good fight and ensure that the First Amendment rights of the comics community will continue to be guarded as we move forward.



As we close this year, we thank the many individuals who have made 2004 a strong year for the Fund, and trust that we can continue to count on your support in the year to come.



Sincerely,



Charles Brownstein


Executive Director