The Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund (CLLDF) is a Canadian nonprofit organization, created in 1987 to protect the

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognise ...

rights of

comic a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicat ...

s creators, publishers, retailers, and readers, by helping to cover legal expenses in the defense of cases where its directors feel those issues are at stake.

History

The Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund was begun by writer

Derek McCulloch Derek Ivor Breashur McCulloch OBE (18 November 1897 – 1 June 1967) was a BBC Radio producer and presenter. He became known as "Uncle Mac" on ''Children's Hour'' and ''Children's Favourites''. He was the head of children's broadcasting for the ...

, Vancouver comics convention organizer Leonard S. Wong, student and community organizer Liz Schiller, and Paul Stockton of

Strawberry Jam Comics Strawberry Jam Comics was a Canadian publisher of comic books during the black-and-white comics boom of the mid and late 1980s. Inspired by the creative success of Dave Sim's ''Cerebus the Aardvark'', founders paul Stockton and Derek McCulloch ...

to assist with the legal defense of Comic Legends, a

Calgary, Alberta Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...

comic shop whose owners were charged with selling obscene materials. The CLLDF raised approximately $3000 to aid in the owners' defense, bringing

Fantagraphics Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the Erotic comics, erotic Eros Comix imprint. They have managed sev ...

publisher

Gary Groth Gary Groth (born September 18, 1954) is an American comic book editor, publisher and critic. He is editor-in-chief of ''The Comics Journal'', a co-founder of Fantagraphics Books, and founder of the Harvey Awards. Early life Groth is the son ...

to Calgary to testify as an expert witness in the trial. The trial ended with a conviction and a sentence totaling $3,000 in fines. The CLLDF supported an appeal. The conviction was not overturned, but the sentence was reduced to a nominal fine. As part of this effort, the organization published the books ''True North'' and ''True North II'' as fund-raisers. In later years, the organization made financial contributions to support

Little Sister's Book and Art Emporium Little Sister's Book and Art Emporium, also known as Little Sister's Bookstore, but usually called "Little Sister's", is an independent bookstore in the Davie Village/West End, Vancouver, West End neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Can ...

in its legal dispute with Canada Customs over imported comics, and paid for an expert witness whose testimony assisted in the acquittal of Marc Laliberte, a

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleas ...

publisher in

Windsor, Ontario Windsor ( ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is situated on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from the U.S city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Esse ...

. In 2011, the organization, which had been mostly dormant for twenty years, became involved in a case involving a U.S. citizen visiting Canada, whose laptop computer had been searched by

Canada Customs The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA; , ''ASFC'') is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border control (i.e. protection and surveillance), immigration enforcement, and customs services in Canada. The CBSA is responsib ...

and who was arrested and charged with possession of "child pornography" based on the comics illustrations found there. In coordination with the

Comic Book Legal Defense Fund The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) is an American non-profit organization formed in 1986 to protect the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, First Amendment rights of comics creators, publishers, and retailers covering legal ...

, a U.S. organization with similar goals, which became involved because of the defendant's citizenship and international elements of the legal issues, the CLLDF raised funds for his defense and to promote awareness of the legal issues involved in the case. The organization contributed US$11,000 toward his $75,000 legal expenses; charges were dropped. To facilitate fundraising, CLLDF formally incorporated in 2011 as a nonprofit organization. At the same time, the fund expanded its board of directors from three (McCulloch, Stockton, and Wong) to five, adding retailers Jay Bardyla and Jennifer Haines."The Comic Legends Legal Defense Fund announces new directors"
, Heidi MacDonald, ''The Beat'', November 10, 2011

References

External links

* {{Canadian comics Freedom of expression organizations Legal advocacy organizations based in Canada Comics-related organizations Censorship in Canada Comics-related organizations in Canada Organizations based in Toronto Legal organizations based in Ontario

History

See also

References

External links