| Katsucon Saturday -
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund |
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The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund makes infrequent
appearances at anime conventions. It was set up by the mainstream comics
industry to protect comics specialty stores against censorship and harassment.
As comic books have moved away from the watered-down days of the Comics
Code Authority to reflect the gritty unpleasantness of real life, they've
come under attack - especially those books that deal with sex. |
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Until recently, anime fans haven't had to worry about
outside forces trying to restrict the material they watch. However, Chris
Oarr, executive director of the defense fund, had a warning at Katsucon:
the uninhibited nature of some anime and manga is drawing attention from
those who want to shut it down, especially those who still hold the belief
that all comics and cartoons should be for children only. |
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Oarr's example comes from Corpus Christi, Texas,
where a police vice officer went to several comics special stores and told
them they had to remove all anime labeled "18 and over" to remove those
videos, or face arrest. "Every six months or so he has a new anti-smut
campaign...it's frightening to think this may happen to you," said Oarr.
The fund director said this sort of crackdown is part of a larger effort
to repress anything that offends a few who have "...a cultural agenda.
They can't win their cases on obscenity, so they're attacking it as `harmful
to minors.' They're hiding behind the children - and they're having some
effect." |
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In the Corpus Christi case, the fund could defend
the stores that were forced to pull the tapes - if charges were filed,
which had not happened as of Oarr's Katsucon appearance. Without charges,
the fund can attempt to put pressure on police to leave the stores alone.
either move requires the fund to work in a city or hire local counsel,
and that costs money. The fund hoped to raise some of that at Katsucon
with an auction. |
